Cold-case murder trial moved to October

By Paul Shockley
Thursday, April 22, 2010

A 65-year-old Longmont man charged in the 1975 stabbing deaths of a Grand Junction mother and child is now scheduled for trial in October.

Jerry Nemnich, who has pleaded not guilty in the murders of Linda Benson, 24, and her daughter, Kelley, 5, will be tried over two weeks starting Oct. 12.

District Judge Brian Flynn, who had recently scheduled a trial to start in September, re-scheduled the matter this morning after attorneys said they had conflicts.

Flynn in March delayed the start of Nemnich’s trial after the results of a new round of DNA tests by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation were revealed to both sides in the case. District Attorney Pete Hautzinger wrote in a court filing the information was “highly beneficial” to the DA’s case.