First-degree murder trial of Mount Sterling man set for Dec. 6; hearings for suppression of evidence, removal of prosecutor set for November

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — Jury selection in the first-degree murder trial of a Mount Sterling man is scheduled to begin Dec. 6.

However, plenty of work remains to be done before the trial begins.

John M. Dean, 42, of Mount Sterling, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in the June 14, 2019 death of 44-year-old Rebecca L. Niewohner. Charging documents allege Dean shot Niewohner with a .45-caliber handgun.

Dean appeared in Brown County Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon. He was dressed in an orange and peach jumpsuit and was handcuffed at the wrists and the ankles. He wore glasses, sandals and a mask. Robert Fischel, a deputy with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, stood behind Dean in the courtroom.

The pre-trial hearing was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., but Judge Charles H.W. Burch met with Brown County State’s Attorney Michael Hill and Special Assistant State’s Attorney Ed Parkinson with the prosecution, as well as defense attorney John Leonard, for 29 minutes in private before they entered the courtroom.

A pretrial hearing was set for 1 p.m. Nov. 19 to hear from as many as five defense witnesses in regard to the possible elimination of DNA evidence from the trial. At the conclusion of the Nov. 19 hearing, another motion will be heard in regard to having Hill removed as the prosecutor in the case.

A date also was set for Nov. 23 for Dr. George Nichols II to give a deposition that will be recorded. Nichols, a forensic pathologist, has more than 20 years experience as Kentucky’s chief medical examiner. He has performed in excess of 10,000 autopsies, including the exhumation and subsequent examination of Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States. He is qualified in federal courts as an expert.

Leonard said Nichols would be unavailable to appear in person at the trial.

Burch also set a trial date for 9 a.m. Dec. 3 to rule on any objections that may be made in regard to Nichols’ testimony.

Leonard expressed concern that Burch and the prosecution thought Nichols should be in attendance on Nov. 23.

“If the prosecution thinks Nichols should be here, well, I can’t get my witness here,” he said.

Any overflow of witnesses who won’t be heard on Nov. 19 will be heard on Dec. 3.

The Mount Sterling Police Department and the Brown County Sheriff’s Department responded to the report of a shooting during the evening of June 14, 2019 in the 400 block of East Chestnut. Police said officers found Niewohner had died at the scene, while Dean suffered an apparent gunshot wound to the face.

Dean was taken to Culbertson Memorial Hospital in Rushville before being transferred to a Springfield hospital where he had been in intensive care for injuries from a gunshot wound.

Dean is being held in the Schuyler County Jail on $1 million bond.