Murder case dropped in Pike County

Paul Detty was supposed to go on trial next Monday in Pike County Common Pleas Court, charged with aggravated murder for the death of a man in 2012.

But prosecutors say newly uncovered evidence indicates that Detty — in spite of a confession — might not have been the one who killed Jacob Lansing after all. So they dropped the aggravated murder charge against him on Wednesday.

Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk said that even after Detty, 31, was charged in March, the investigation didn’t stop. New evidence and leads changed the course of the case, he said.

Prosecutors did, however, reserve the right to recharge Detty if necessary.

This was a strange case from the start. On Aug. 27, 2012, Lansing’s body was found underneath a vehicle at his River Road home. Authorities believed it to be an unfortunate accident in which the SUV the 25-yearold had been working on fell on him.

Some of Lansing’s relatives never thought that was the case. A couple of years ago, prosecutor’s investigator Brian Reader took another look. He had Lansing’s body exhumed and an autopsy performed. The conclusion was that Lansing had been beaten to death before his body was put under the truck, Junk said previously.

Detectives still think that is the case, Junk said, but they need more time to figure out who was involved.