A man who spent a quarter-century on death row in the robbery and murder of a New Jersey woman at an Ohio hotel nearly three decades ago has been freed on bond while awaiting a new trial.
Elwood Jones of Cincinnati was convicted of aggravated murder, robbery and burglary in the 1994 beating death of Rhoda Nathan, 67, of Toms River, New Jersey, in Blue Ash, a Cincinnati suburb.
Police said Nathan, a grandmother in town over the Labor Day weekend to attend the bar mitzvah of her best friend’s grandson, was killed after she surprised a would-be robber in her room. Jones was a hotel employee and was on the job that day, police said.
NEW JERSEY TO NO LONGER REQUIRE PRESCRIPTIONS FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF BIRTH CONTROL
The death sentence imposed on Jones was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court. But last month, a Hamilton County judge granted him a new trial after concluding that prosecutors had not turned over evidence relevant to the case to his attorneys. County prosecutors have vowed to appeal the decision.
Officials said Jones, released from Hamilton County jail Saturday on $50,000 unsecured bond, will be under electronic monitoring and is barred from leaving the county.