Atty: Physical evidence will clear boy, 14, in sister's murder
VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. - An attorney for a 14-year-old Northern California boy accused of stabbing his 8-year-old sister to death says he believes physical evidence in the case will exonerate his client.
Steve Plesser, a criminal defense attorney in Sacramento, told 48 Hours' Crimesider Wednesday that forensic testing in the case is ongoing and therefore the boy's trial will be pushed back from Feb. 23 to May 18.
Plesser says he and the boy's other defense attorney, Mark Reichel, plan to return to court in two weeks to argue that the boy should be released pending trial.
"We don't think there was enough evidence to arrest him at the time he was arrested," Plesser told Crimesider. "It's been two years and we think the case from a forensic point of view has gotten significantly better for him."
The boy was only 12-years-old when he was arrested and charged as a juvenile with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister in April 2013. He has pleaded not guilty and his mother, father and stepmother have said they believe the boy is innocent and had no motive to harm his sister.
Prior to his arrest, the boy's biological mother told CBS Sacramento her son "could never hurt his sister."
"I've never seen him be mean to her. My son loved his sister so much," she said.
The boy initially told police that he found his sister's body and encountered an intruder - who he described as a tall man with long gray hair - fleeing the family's Valley Springs home on April 27, 2013. The children were home alone at the time.
A neighbor corroborated the boy's version of events by telling police she saw a man matching that description running from the girl's home the day of the murder. However, according to police, she later recanted her statement.
The killing sparked a manhunt and even drew the attention of the FBI.
In the days after the murder, authorities probed a possible link between Leila's killing and the attempted kidnapping of a toddler in Placerville, about 45 miles away. Jason Wryrynen, 44, allegedly broke into an apartment there and tried to kidnap a 15-month-old girl. The mother was able to wrestle her daughter away and struggled with Wryrynen until authorities arrived.
Placerville Police Captain Mike Scott said at the time that there were some similarities between Wryrynen and the description of the suspect in Leila's murder. Officials later said they determined it was unlikely there was a connection between the two crimes and just days later, Leila's brother was arrested.
The boy's attorney, Steve Plesser, declined to say Wednesday whether he plans on pointing the finger at Wryrynen when his client goes to trial.