Attorney for Cold Case Murder Suspect Accuses Prosecutors

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The attorney for a Florida man charged this year in the 26-year-old slaying of his girlfriend in South Dakota is accusing prosecutors of misconduct.

The death of 21-year-old Kimberly Eidsness in 1989 had been classified a suicide until prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury earlier this year. Authorities haven't said why they reopened the case.

The Argus Leader reports the attorney for 57-year-old murder suspect Kim Aune said during a hearing Tuesday that the evidence was fashioned in a way that didn't allow the jury "to make an independent determination." Public defender Traci Smith says that amounts to misconduct, and she wants the case dismissed.

Minnehaha County prosecutor Tom Hensley denies the allegations.

Aune is from Florida's Lee County. His South Dakota trial is to begin Jan. 10.

Source: Attorney for Cold Case Murder Suspect Accuses Prosecutors