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Steven Downs, right, leaves the courtroom with his attorney, James Howaniec, after bail was denied in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn in March.
Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo
The former girlfriend of an Auburn man charged in the rape and murder of an Alaska native woman in 1993 said Thursday that Steven H. Downs never owned a gun in the four years they dated while students at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
Attorneys for Downs, 46, called Katherine deSchweinitz Lee on Thursday to testify in Fairbanks Superior Court via videoconference as a witness in support of a motion to dismiss the indictment charging Downs with murder and sexual assault.
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20-year old Sophie Sergie (SUR-ghee) was found dead in a dormitory at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993. Her case went cold for many years as suspect after suspect was ruled out. However, in 2018, DNA from the crime scene was matched through a commercial database to a former student who had moved back to Maine.
Alaska State Troopers went to Maine to arrest him in February, 2019. After a months-long trip to extradite him to Fairbanks, Stephen Downs has been waiting his day in court. His attorney, James Howaniec, (hoh-WAH-nik) is glad the evidentiary hearing has started this week.
“It’s been pushed off for a year, now, this was already going to be a tough case, and then we get hit with the pandemic. So, we had a conference with the judge, 2 to 3 months ago, and just decided that we’re going to get going on some of these motions pending for a year.”
OTTAWA - LaSalle County Sheriff Thomas Templeton will be awarding a $500 scholarship. Applications are now available and must be postmarked by March 15th.
January 15, 2021
LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton (L) speaks at a press conference about gun arrests as Streator Police Chief Kurt Pastirik (R) looks on – Studstill Media Photo
SPRINGFIELD – A police and criminal reform house bill that would drastically change law enforcement as we know it, is in the hands of Governor J.B. to sign. House Bill 3653 formerly House Bill 163, authored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, was approved by the Illinois General Assembly earlier this week. The bill includes ending cash bail for non-violent offenders state-wide, requiring all police officers to wear body cameras by 2025, and allow officers to be punished or fired based on anonymous complaints from the public. Some law enforcement groups are critical of the bill, including the Illinois Sheriff’s Association. In LaSalle County, Sheriff Thomas Templeton had this to say: