CALIFORNIA, Pa.,None — A man has been ordered to stand trial in the death of a southwestern Pennsylvania man more than 8 1/2 years ago.
Washington County Judge Janet Bell declined to dismiss charges against Howard Irwin Jr. of Charleroi in the February 2003 slaying of 45-year-old John Lynn Newman in California borough.
Newman was shot and killed on Feb. 4, 2003. Newman's wife and 14-year-old daughter found him dead in his car along First Street in California Borough.
Bell's ruling Tuesday came after a prosecution witness testified that he was at two meetings at Irwin's house where there were discussions about killing the victim. Irwin has said he was with his girlfriend at the time of the slaying.
Authorities said that Irwin, Michael Duncan of Amherst, Ohio, and federal prison inmate John Bronson Jr. plotted to have the victim killed over a drug debt.
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