CHESTER, Ill. (AP) - A legal dispute over DNA testing of supposed evidence against a man accused of setting a southern Illinois house fire that killed four children has been resolved.
The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan (https://bit.ly/1lqkgrM) reports a judge in Derrick Twardoski’s case has agreed to hiring an expert to oversee testing of eight potential exhibits. Those items include swabs from a gas cap, gas can, a rag, lighter and cigarette pack.
Prosecutors had said lab testing may destroy some of the potential exhibits. Twardoski’s public defender objected to that prospect.
The 33-year-old Twardoski has pleaded not guilty to four first-degree murder counts in the deaths last May in Percy, a village 60 miles southeast of St. Louis. The fire killed siblings ages 12, 9 and 5-year-old twins.
Their parents and a 6-year-old escaped.
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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, https://www.southernillinoisan.com
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