Prosecutor appeals ruling in homicide case of wife

BY TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER

Times-Shamrock Writer

 

The state attorney general’s office has appealed a judge’s ruling that denied a request to postpone the trial of a suspended Montrose police officer charged with killing his estranged wife.

Jury selection was set to begin Monday in Susquehanna County Court for the trial of John Walker, with testimony starting on Sept. 30. Mr. Walker’s attorney, Paul Ackoury, said those dates may be postponed, however, based on the prosecution’s appeal, which was filed Monday with the state Superior Court.

Mr. Walker’s wife, Lynda Walker, died from a gunshot wound to the chest in November 1983, inside Mr. Walker’s home. Her death was initially ruled a suicide. Authorities reopened the case in 2009 and presented it to a grand jury. Mr. Walker was charged with homicide in October .

Mr. Ackourey said the attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case for the Susquehanna district attorney’s office, sought a continuance because two of its expert witnesses are not available. Senior Monroe County Judge Linda Wallach Miller, who was specially appointed to preside over the case, denied the request.

Mr. Ackourey said it is not clear yet whether the case will be postponed pending the Superior Court’s decision. Prosecutors asked for an expedited review of the case, but no ruling had been made as of late Wednesday.