Man convicted of murders asks for retrial based on DNA test

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Rapid City man convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law in 1983 will argue before a South Dakota judge that he should be granted a  new criminal trial based on DNA testing.

The Rapid City Journal reports that George Luna, 71, has maintained that he is innocent of killing his wife, Lynn Luna, and mother-in-law, Helen Thomas. George Luna has been granted a civil habeas corpus trial.

His lawyers argue that DNA testing performed by the Minnesota Innocence Project in 2016 shows hairs found in Lynn Luna’s hand could have belonged to another suspect in the case, but not George Luna.

 

December 28, 2020