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Testimony continues in John Oldson murder trial
It was a murder mystery case that went cold for over two decades. Wednesday the trial continues for John Oldson, the man accused of killing Catherine Beard.
News 5's Katie Gauthier has been covering the trial since Oldson's arrest last year. She has the latest from Howard County on day three of the trial. It's the talk of the town. A cold case murder trial taking place in St. Paul. It's been over a decade since Howard County has seen it's last murder trial. "It's been the talk of the town in Ord since he was arrested last January," said Dawn Allen, Cairo. This is Catherine Beard, smiling, petite and 31 years old when she disappeared from her hometown tavern. "A really good friend of mine knew her very, very, very well and said she was a wonderful gal, a sweet gal and what happened to her shouldn't have happened," said Allen. Dawn Allen sat in and is a keeping a close eye on the trial of John Oldson, the man accused of killing the Ord woman. Retired investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol, Larry Karschner, interviewed John Oldson after Cathy's disappearance May 31, 1989. One of the interviews took place after Oldson told firefighters they were searching for Cathy's body in the wrong spot. Karschner drove Oldson to where he thought they should be looking. Oldson led him to a county road northeast of Ord and said Cathy could have easily been carried over the fence and left in the area. However, Oldson's defense says the interview was never transcribed and the tape can't be found. Larry Kittinger testified he was working for Oldson's father on a masonry project alongside John at the time of Cathy's disappearance. He says law officers came to their job site the next day and when Oldson's father asked why they would be there, John Oldson replied, it's probably something I did. April 1992, DeEtta Petska is driving around with her children picking up trash and old cans a few miles from her home on a rural road. She sees something that looks like a deflated ball, darkish brown in color. It turns out to be the front part of Cathy's skull. She immediately reported it to authorities. Testimony will continue Thursday. We'll continue to keep you updated on the Cold Case that shook the small town of Ord. Another witness that took the stand Wednesday was Chuck Biskeborn. He's a former love interest of Catherine Beard. He saw Catherine days prior to disappearing and noticed nothing out of the ordinary about her personality. When he found out she was missing he searched several days for Beard. But, found nothing. |
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