Trying 1986 case is uphill battle

North Carolina prosecutors wanting to put 76-year-old Betty Neumar on trial for solicitation of a murder 22 years ago will have a tough job, legal experts say.

• Photos

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, right, meets Saudi King Abdullah in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, June 22, 2008. King Abdullah said Sunday that Saudi Arabia was not to blame for soaring oil prices and instead pointed his finger at speculators, high fuel taxes in consuming countries and increased oil consumption in developing economies. The king, who opened a high-level oil summit in the port city of Jiddah, said his kingdom the world's largest oil exporter had already increased its production (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Mrs. Neumar, of Augusta, was arrested last month and charged with asking a hit man to kill her husband, Harold Gentry, in Stanley County, N.C., in 1986. Investigators have added to suspicions by revealing that Ms. Neumar has had five husbands, and all of them -- including the latest, John Neumar, of Augusta -- have died, some under mysterious circumstances.

But suspicions don't always yield convictions.

North Carolina authorities have been reluctant to discuss details of their case. But legal experts say they face many challenges.

The 22 years separating the shooting death of Mr. Gentry and Mrs. Neumar's arrest is one of them, said veteran McDuffie County prosecutor Dennis Sanders of the Toombs Judicial Circuit.

"The bottom line: The older the cases the worse the case," Mr. Sanders said. The exceptions are those improved because of advances in science, such as DNA identification.

A prosecutor has to worry about finding physical evidence and the fading memories of witnesses, Mr. Sanders said.

Pat Head, a defense attorney elected district attorney for the Cobb Judicial Circuit in 1998, prosecuted a 23-year-old case involving the rape of one girl and killing of another.

"The (rape) victim, who was 10 then, was 33 when she got on the stand and testified. She had to relive it all over again," Mr. Head said.

His office was fortunate: She didn't hesitate to testify; the investigators were alive, although some had retired; and the clerk's office saved all the physical evidence and knew where it was, Mr. Head said.

The defendant was convicted and sentenced to death.

North Carolina prosecutors looking at a case against Mrs. Neumar will face a hard time if there is no physical evidence linking her to the crime, Mr. Head said.

The Associated Press reported that the original police investigator in the North Carolina case has died, and the sheriff at the time suffered a stroke and said he doesn't remember much about the initial investigation.

The only other evidence might be from a witness who has come forward. Whatever he said against Ms. Neumar must be corroborated, Mr. Head said.

"It will be interesting to see what evidence they do have. If they picked her up and extradited her, they must think they can prevail," he said.

Ron Carlson, a professor emeritus at the University of Georgia School of Law who has written extensively about criminal law and often serves as a media expert, said the charge of solicitation instead of conspiracy or murder might be revealing. The North Carolina investigators might be more confident in proving she tried to hire someone to kill Mr. Gentry, he said.

But if someone has now come forward with information that implicates Mrs. Neumar after all these years, it raises questions about the person's motives and why such information was withheld, Mr. Carlson said.

Maybe the North Carolina authorities performed more forensic examinations, he said. DNA examination has improved dramatically since the time of Mr. Gentry's homicide, Mr. Carlson said.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.