Stillman Valley man’s double-homicide trial delayed

OREGON – Citing the need for more time to review data, the attorney for a Stillman Valley man charged with killing his ex-wife and their 3-year-old son in 2016 asked for and received another month to evaluate forensic reports expected to be used by prosecutors at his client’s trial.

Christopher DeRango, the attorney for Duane Meyer, 41, told Ogle County Judge John “Ben” Roe that he had received some of the data from the Ogle County State’s Attorney’s Office but now needed more time for a defense expert to review it.

“I received some materials today, but it will be some period of time before my expert can review it,” DeRango said.

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.

On Sept. 26, DeRango requested and received a continuance telling Roe that he was asking for more time for his expert to review reports provided by prosecutors and to file another discovery motion for any other data.

On Monday, DeRango said some of the information sought “may not exist,” while other requests may be objected to by prosecutors.

Ogle County Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten said the state had provided DeRango with “major forensic copies,” including phone records.

“At this point, this is what we can produce,” Leisten told Roe.

DeRango said the data was so voluminous that it could not be sent electronically for a defense expert to review.

“Because of the volume of the data, I had to overnight it, so I am asking another status hearing be set,” DeRango said.

The state did not object to the continuance, and Roe set the next court date for 9 a.m. Dec. 12.

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.

At that time, Leisten argued that the evidence was 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.