Judge grants Beach a new trial

BILLINGS (AP) — The man convicted in the 1979 killing of a Poplar girl is getting a new trial.

KULR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/rrj5q1 ) a District Court judge in Fergus County ruled Tuesday that new evidence could convince a jury to acquit Barry Beach.

The 49-year-old was convicted in 1984 in the beating death of 17-year-old Kimberly Nees largely based on his own confession.

Beach, who has spent 28 years in prison, argues that he was coerced into the confession by out-of-state police.

His attorneys have argued a group of girls was actually responsible for Nees death and blamed shoddy police work, including some done by the girls' relatives, for his conviction.

The new evidence relied on testimony from various people that a few women have over the years indicated they were involved in the crime.