Judge grants mistrial in poisoning case
A state judge has granted a mistrial in the murder case against James Keown, who is accused of poisoning his wife by lacing her Gatorade with antifreeze.
A medical expert who was slated to testify for the defense underwent emergency surgery last weekend and was not available for trial, necessitating a delay.
Keown remains in custody and the judge scheduled a new trial date of June 9, which will require a new jury to be selected.
Jurors, who had been selected and sworn in last week, were to hear opening arguments Monday. But, after delaying the case for several days, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines released them from service Wednesday.
Hines granted the defense's request for a mistrial after lawyers advised her that a medical expert who was critical to their case underwent emergency surgery in Indianapolis over the weekend and could not make the trip to Massachusetts to testify in the coming weeks.
Keown, 33, a former radio talk show host in Missouri, is accused of slowly poisoning his 31-year-old wife, Julie, while the couple were living in Waltham.
His wife, a registered nurse, started getting ill in May 2004 with symptoms that included vomiting, nausea, and slurred speech, and was diagnosed with gastritis. Four months later, her kidneys started deteriorating and she was being treated at Newton-Wellesley Hospital when she slipped into a coma and doctors discovered ethylene glycol, the poisonous substance found in antifreeze, in her system. She was given an antidote, but it was too late to save her. She died on Sept. 8, 2004.
Keown was arrested on Nov. 7, 2005, while he was hosting a radio talk show on KLIK-AM in Jefferson City, Mo., where he had moved after his wife's death. Prosecutors say Keown gave her Gatorade and other drinks and food laced with antifreeze so he could collect a $250,000 life insurance policy.
