BORDERLAND

Murder suspect returns to prison to await trial

6/10/2014

A suspect in a 1976 homicide is to return to a state prison where he is serving a life sentence for an unrelated murder to await trial, a judge ruled Monday.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Dean Mandros ordered that Martin Woods, 57, be returned to the North Central Correctional Institution in Marion, Ohio, until his trial, which was scheduled for Aug. 18, or any other hearing that would require his presence in court.

Woods’ attorney, Donald Cameron, asked the court to allow Woods to return to Marion, in part because of health issues. Woods is charged with murder for the death of Rebecca Gerst, 20, who was found in a pool of blood in her Parkwood Avenue apartment Feb. 4, 1976.