Curtis Lovelace update: Bail reduction denied, trial to move forward

UPDATE March 10, 2017: The Quincy Herald-Whig reports after about two hours of deliberations, 12 jurors from Sangamon County came back with a not guilty verdict Friday.

UPDATE June 6, 2016: The Quincy Herald-Whig reports Curtis Lovelace was released from jail on June 7, 2016. The judge in Lovelace's case agreed to reduce bond to $3.5 million.

Friends of Lovelace posted the 10 percent release amount of $350,000. Lovelace continues to be monitored by authorities as he waits for a new trial.

Curtis Lovelace is facing murder charges in the death of his wife. His first trial ended in a hung jury.

Christine Lovelace is standing by her husband, desperately hoping for good news from the Illinois jail where Curtis Lovelace has been behind bars for 18 months, charged with the murder of his first wife.

Prayers weren't enough for a bail reduction -- again denied. Now, a jury is being asked again to decide his fate a new trial set to begin in late July.

Curtis Lovelace is Quincy, Illinois's famous son, an accused Valentine's Day killer. The former assistant state's attorney was arrested for suffocating his wife Cory, more than eight years after he said he found her dead, in the couple's own bed.

But a dogged investigator turned the Lovelace case into a sensation, and a murder investigation.

"There's a new detective, he opens a homicide investigation with Curtis Lovelace in his sights as a target," said private investigator Bill Clutter.

Despite all the experts who told the detective it was a natural death caused by Cory's excessive alcohol consumption, Curtis soon faced murder charges and couldn't post the $5-million bail.

Curtis's first trial ended in a hung jury. Now the nonprofit organization Investigating Innocence is helping to defend him with a new attorney in a retrial starting later this year.

"We filed the charges pursuant to a grand jury indictment, so we're going to go to trial," said Prosecutor Ed Parkinson.

Will Curtis testify in his own defense this time around? And will the case focus again on the "unusual" positioning of Cory's arms? That's a critical detail that forensics experts argued points to the time of death.

"It'll be the same judge, but maybe not the same place," said prosecutor Parkinson.

But there's no changing the evidence. Each side focused on what they believe caused Cory's death.

"No crime was committed. Ms. Lovelace died as a result of complications from her liver disease," said Loevy.

Cory said she had been fighting flu-like symptoms, her defenses worn down by bouts of alcoholism and reportedly, bulimia.

Still, Cory's death was ruled "undetermined." She was only 38 years old.

There was no life insurance and no evidence Curtis was having an affair, and despite an unhappy marriage, no clear motive for murder.

Curtis has been married twice since his wife passed away.

Curtis hoped a bail reduction would set him free, at least temporarily, to be with his new wife and teenage boys. The judge denied that request.

But Curtis and his family can only put their lives are on hold.

They fear if he's convicted this time around, he could remain locked up for a very long time.

"If he were to be found guilty, he would be in prison from anywhere, 20 to 60 years, my husband would never come home, I would never see my husband come through the front door," said Christine.

University of Chicago's Exoneration Project will represent Lovelace pro bono. Clutter is also raising funds for Lovelace's defense.