NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities have dropped charges against a suspect in the 2016 cold case slaying of a 25-year-old Tulane University graduate who was visiting New Orleans to plan his wedding.
“Serious issues” with a critical witness’s availability arose and led the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office to ask on Tuesday that charges be dismissed against Ernest Weatherspoon, the DA said, without elaborating, in a news release.
Thomas Rolfes, of St. Louis, had come back to the city on a Mother’s Day weekend to meet with his fiancée and scout wedding venues. He was found May 7, 2016, shot to death at an intersection after leaving a bar.
Weatherspoon, 46, was arrested and indicted in December 2021 by a special grand jury on one count each of armed robbery and second-degree murder.
District Attorney Jason Williams said his office has been in close contact with Rolfes’ family, who agreed that dismissal was the best course of action at this time.
Minnesota toddler dies after fall from South Dakota hotel window
Toilet revolution delivers healthier lifestyle, novel ideas to China's western plateau
The foreign hairdresser who calls himself a Xinjianger
Tsitsipas sweeps aside Ruud to win Monte Carlo Masters for the third time, and then weeps
Judges orders Pennsylvania agency to produce inspection records related to chocolate plant blast
China offers winter comfort to people in need
Meeting for Mount Qomolangma guides held to share skills, stories in Lhasa
China sees fluctuating decline in child respiratory cases at medical facilities
DEAR JANE: I HATE my boyfriend's awful pet name for me
Prefabricated houses set up at temporary relocation sites in quake
Ivy Getty takes the plunge in sheer gown as she parties with Emily Ratajkowski and Nicky Hilton
West Ham's European hopes hit again with 2