“Railroad Spike Killer” no longer sentenced to death, but gets new trial in case of death of teenager

GREENE COUNTY, Ohio (Court TV) — An Ohio man nicknamed the “Railroad Nail Killer” has been released from death row and placed under house arrest while he awaits a new trial.

David Lee Myers, 59, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 18-year-old Amanda Jo Maher. The teen mother of an 8-month-old was “found barely alive near the railroad tracks in south Xenia,” according to court documents. She had a railroad nail in her temple and “had a shirt pulled up to her neck and was wearing nothing else.” An autopsy revealed she had three stones in her vaginal canal.

According to witnesses and police, Myers and Maher were seen leaving a bar together after Maher's boyfriend was arrested for disturbing the peace. Myers told an arresting officer and the victim's boyfriend that he would take care of her and make sure she got home.

Several witnesses stated that Myers was the last person seen with Maher. A witness who encountered Myers after Maher's last meeting told police he asked him “if he got (sex) from Maher,” to which he replied, “He tried, but she wasn't ready and he just dumped her.” At the time of Maher's death, Myers was on probation for sexual assault.

Myers was arrested and charged in August 1988. In February 1991, prosecutors dropped the charges. A month later, he was charged with multiple counts of forgery, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

In February 1993, Myers was again charged with Maher's murder. At his trial in 1996, he was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Earlier this year, Myers' defense filed a motion to overturn the death sentence after new DNA evidence was discovered on the railroad spike and one of the rocks found on Maher's body. DNA from an unidentified man was also found on a cigarette butt picked up at the crime scene.

In August, a judge granted Myers a retrial, stating, “The court finds that the newly discovered evidence is of such great probative value that the jury would most likely have reached a different verdict had the new evidence been available at trial.” Myers was placed under house arrest.

The case is scheduled to return to court on November 22 via a pretrial conference call.