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| 30-YEARS AGO |
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| ALBERT TODAY |
Dawn Niles was last seen alive in March 1981, when she left the Windy City's Hinsdale South High School with her boyfriend Gary Albert.
Five days later a fisherman found the 15-year-old's body buried in a nearby forest.
She had been repeatedly stabbed and an autopsy later revealed that she had been three months pregnant at the time of her death.
Now, 30 years later, Albert, 48, stands accused of her murder after modern techniques linked his DNA to her body The Chicago Tribune reports.
Prosecutor's believe that Niles and Albert who belonged to the high school's drama club for the deaf and the local chapter of the Junior Illinois Association for the Deaf had fought about her pregnancy.
Friends told them that Albert didn't want to take responsibility for the child and suggested she tell her parents that she had either been raped or impregnated by someone else, according to court filings.
A defense lawyer for Albert, who had pled not guilty called those statements improper hearsay and argued against them, claiming they "infuse undue prejudice," records show.
In pretrial motions they said that it can't be proved that Albert was aware of the pregnancy and that he had no motive to commit such a crime.
The trial which is set to start this summer is expected to present a number of logistical issues for both prosecutors and defense because the defendant and some of the witnesses are hearing-impaired.
A recent pretrial hearing raised the possibility of using as many as three sign language interpreters at the same time.
Albert is currently free on $1 million bail.
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