Prosecutor: No retrial for man in 1978 killings

BELLEVILLE -- A man on Missouri's death row won't be tried again in two 1978 killings in southwestern Illinois because the prosecutor believes it would be pointless.

St. Clair County State's Attorney Bob Haida (HAY'-duh) termed as "real" the death sentence handed last week in St. Louis County, Mo. to Gregory Bowman for the killing of 16-year-old Velda Rumfelt more than three decades ago.

Bowman was previously imprisoned in Illinois for killing 14-year-old Elizabeth West and 21-year-old Ruth Ann Jany in separate cases in Belleville in 1978.

Those convictions were thrown out after a sheriff's deputy admitted Bowman was tricked into confessing.

Haida says retrying Bowman in Illinois would be redundant and serve no useful purpose. He also cited Illinois' moratorium on executions.