Jurors in the Clifford Andersen Jr. murder trial in Putnam County were sent home Monday with extra warnings not to “jump to any conclusions” after the day’s final prosecution witness appeared to create confusion by contradicting a key element in the prosecution’s case.
Lynn McCloskey, a criminal analyst with the Illinois State Police, testified that cellphone calls between Andersen and victim Deborah Dewey on Aug. 22, 2016, were greater in number and later in the day than prosecutors and other witnesses had previously stated.
That was the day that the Ladd woman disappeared early in the morning and was allegedly beaten to death by her brother-in-law in a vacant house in Standard and later buried in a shallow grave in the yard outside. He’s standing trial on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.
A key component in the case has been the claim that the 68-year-old Standard man was the last person to talk to her, and that has been supported partly by reference to phone records. Prosecutors have maintained that Andersen called her at about 7:44 a.m., 7:49, 8:10, 8:37, and 11:42, with the last call going unanswered.
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