Missouri man seeks retrial in Nebraska death

ST. PAUL, Neb. -- A hearing has been scheduled next month for a Missouri man seeking a new trial on his February conviction in a 1989 Nebraska slaying.

Howard County District Judge Karin Noakes scheduled the hearing for May 6 for John Oldson, 46, of Randolph, Mo. Oldson was found guilty Feb. 8 of second-degree murder. Jurors ruled that Oldson killed 31-year-old Cathy Beard of Ord, Neb., who disappeared in 1989. Her body was found near Ord in 1992.

Oldson was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but his attorney, James Mowbray, told Noakes that Oldson deserved a new trial based on the arrest of a key witness four days after Oldson's conviction.

The judge delayed the sentencing to June 3 and set a May 6 hearing on the retrial motion.

The witness, Doug Olson, had been sought before Oldson's trial so he could testify about a diary that was sent to Oldson's family before the trial. The diary mentions two brothers who had killed four women, including someone named Kathy, and buried them on the brothers' property in Holt County.

Mowbray said he believes the woman who wrote the diary is a former employer of Olson.

The diary was not admitted as evidence at Oldson's trial because its author couldn't be verified and neither could the information it contained.

The defense had maintained that jurors should be able to consider the diary information and the possibility that others had killed Beard. Now that Olson has been arrested on several outstanding warrants, Mowbray on Monday said Olson can be questioned about the diary and the information it contains.

Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O'Brien on Monday said the prosecution thinks Olson fabricated possible evidence by writing the diary himself.

Oldson, who previously lived in Ord, was interviewed in 1989 but not arrested. The prosecution said new evidence and witnesses led to his arrest.

The trial was moved from Valley County to Howard County after the defense requested the change based on pretrial publicity and questionnaires to possible members of a jury.