Defense says more time needed to examine cyber data in Stillman Valley man’s double-homicide case

OREGON – A Stillman Valley man charged with killing his ex-wife and their 3-year-old son in 2016 asked for and received more time for a defense expert to evaluate forensic reports expected to be used by prosecutors at his trial.

Christopher DeRango, the attorney for Duane Meyer, 41, told Ogle County Judge John “Ben” Roe on Tuesday that their expert needed more time to examine data provided by the Ogle County state’s attorney.

“Because of the cyber data age there are some antiquated file formats,” DeRango said. “There are hundreds of them.”

Meyer is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of concealment of a homicidal death in connection with the Oct. 19, 2016, Byron house fire in which Margaret “Maggie” (Rosko) Meyer, 31, was found dead. Their son, 3-year-old Amos Meyer, also was home at the time of the fire and later died.

Charges against Meyer were filed in October 2019.

DeRango said the defense’s expert would need until the end of January to compete the analysis.

The state did not object to the continuance and Roe set the next court date for 3 p.m. Feb. 15, 2024.

In September, DeRango petitioned prosecutors for any data obtained by electronic service providers, internet service providers, mobile phone carriers, and digital investigation platforms.

After receiving that information, DeRango requested and received a continuance during a Sept. 26 hearing telling Roe that he needed more time for his expert to review the reports and data provided by prosecutors.

At that hearing, Ogle County Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten said the state had provided the defense with “major forensic copies,” including phone records and text messages.

In January, DeRango entered 21 motions in limine and asked that they be sealed before debate in open court.

During a May 4 hearing, DeRango asked Roe to exclude information gathered by the prosecution from being presented to a jury, arguing that some of it was “irrelevant” or would be “prejudicial” to his client.

The purpose of a motion in limine (Latin for “on the threshold”) is to determine whether certain evidence may be presented to the jury.

Motions in limine are commonly entered and argued before a trial begins, allowing evidentiary questions to be decided by the judge. The motions are made by attorneys when seeking to exclude certain evidence from being presented to a jury.

Some of the motions made pertain to crime scene photos, autopsy photos, internet searches, cellphone photos, text messages between Meyer and others, surveillance videos of vehicles, and comments made to police officers during the investigation.

Leisten has argued that the evidence is relevant and, based on case law, should be allowed, adding that “the jury can weigh the evidence.”

DeRango said there were 6,000 pages of discovery and more than 1,000 text messages between Meyer and a friend before the deaths. He said the messages were made amid a “contentious divorce” and, he argued, some of the messages were taken out of context and should not be allowed as evidence.

Leisten disagreed, arguing that the messages showed it was a “planned homicide” and showed “what was going on in the defendant’s mind.”

Roe has yet to rule on all the motions in limine.

Maggie (Rosko) Meyer, a teacher at the Chana Education Center, filed for divorce in 2014. Court records show that the divorce was finalized in September 2016.

The hearing was one of many since murder charges were filed in October 2019.

In November 2022, Roe ruled that Duane Meyer’s cellphone records would be allowed as evidence at the trial.

Meyer remains at the Ogle County Correctional Center on a $10 million bond.