Austintown man will face third jury in 2002 slaying

The third trial has been scheduled for November.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A man accused of murder has been waiting on a final jury verdict for seven years — and he is going to have to wait a little longer.

Christopher Anderson, 41, of South Main Street, Austintown, was to go on trial before Judge James C. Evans, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, in the 2002 homicide of 22-year-old Amber Zurcher. But a motion from his attorney John B. Juhasz has pushed the trial date back to Nov. 30.

Monday’s trial would have been the third trial for Anderson in the Zurcher murder. He had been convicted of murder in 2003 and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, but that decision was overturned on appeal in 2006.

Anderson went to trial a second time in 2008. That trial ending in a mistrial when a jury of seven woman and five men deliberated for two days and could not reach a verdict.

Anderson has been awaiting trial in the Mahoning County jail.

Juhasz filed a motion Friday saying the state did not disclose new-found evidence in the case in a timely manner. He said Anderson could not possibly have a fair chance to counter the new evidence because it was not handed over soon enough.

Judge Evans granted the motion for an extended date Monday afternoon.

Anderson was one of several people who attended a party in Zurcher’s apartment. After everyone else left, Anderson returned and strangled Zurcher with a cord, prosecutors said.

Anderson’s DNA was found in material under Zurcher’s fingernails, and she had a bite wound on her left breast.

At the time of Zurcher’s death, Anderson was on probation for a previous conviction on charges of failure to obey a police order and two counts of negligent assault.

jgoodwin@vindy.com