RUSSELLVILLE — A Pope County circuit judge has set an Aug. 1 date for the third trial of Gary Dunn on a charge of capital murder.
The Courier reported that Circuit Judge Bill Pearson set the trial date Wednesday.
The 31-year-old Dunn is accused in the beating death of 19-year-old Arkansas Tech student Nona Dirksmeyer on Dec. 15, 2005. Two previous trials of Dunn ended in mistrials after juries deadlocked on a verdict.
In both previous trials, defense lawyers claimed Dirksmeyer’s boyfriend, Kevin Jones — who was initially accused in the slaying, but acquitted in a 2007 trial — could have carried out the murder.
Dirksmeyer was the reigning Miss Petit Jean Valley when she was found dead in her Russellville apartment.