Walker Trial Scheduled to Start Monday

A man accused of setting a fatal fire at Murray State goes on trial again Monday in western Kentucky. Circuit Judge Dennis Foust denied defense motions this week, clearing the way for Jerry Wayne Walker Jr.'s retrial in Benton.

Walker is accused of setting the fire at Murray State’s Hester Hall in 1998. The blaze killed student Michael Minger and seriously injured another student. Defense attorney Dennis Null asked the judge to dismiss the case on grounds that key evidence from the first trial was not discovered until after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in 2001. Another defense motion focused on evidence used for the first case. That evidence is now reported as missing or destroyed.