WINDBER —
Local comic-store owner Michael George remains wheelchair-bound with his second murder trial scheduled for Oct. 12 in question.
George, 50, is awaiting a new trial in the July 1990 shooting death of his then-wife, Barbara George, in the comic book store the couple owned in the Detroit area.
One of George’s attorneys, Joseph Kosmala, said it’s uncertain if the trial will begin Oct. 12.
The trial could be delayed as both sides await a Supreme Court decision on whether Macomb County prosecutors can appeal the state Court of Appeals decision in May to uphold a circuit court judge’s 2008 new-trial order.
“If the Supreme Court takes the appeal, it could be another six months for a trial,” Kosmala said.
Other high-profile trials before the Circuit Court begin later this month, which also could push back George’s trial date, he said.
“There are a lot of different factors in play as to whether the case starts on the 12th,” Kosmala said. “As of right now, everybody is in limbo.”
George has been in a wheelchair for more than a year after being released from the Macomb County Jail in Michigan after he posted a $500,000 bond in June. He is staying with relatives in Michigan.
“He’s still pretty much paralyzed from the waist down,” his wife, Renee George, said. “They know he’s B12 deficient so they’re giving him shots for that.”
Michael George has been under the care of a neurologist and is receiving physical therapy, she said.
The cause of the illness is unclear, but Renee George thinks her husband’s sickness began when he was in jail.
“He was in perfect health going in and about a year later he started getting symptoms,” she said.
George is the owner of Comics World on Graham Avenue in Windber.
He was convicted in the execution-style shooting death of his former wife. He was found guilty in March 2008 of first-degree murder following an 11-day trial in Macomb County after investigators re-examined the cold case.
A Macomb County Circuit Court judge later granted a defense request to set aside the conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct and new evidence.
The body of Barbara George, 32, was found in the back of the comic store the couple owned.
She died of a single shot to the head from a .38-caliber handgun.
The prosecution has maintained George killed his wife because he was unhappy with their marriage and for the insurance money.
George said he was at his mother’s house at the time of the shooting.
If he is convicted, George faces life in prison without parole.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 20.
Local News
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Discussion
Murder trial ‘in limbo’
Both sides await high court ruling
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