Man Freed on Murder Charge, May Face Manslaughter Trial

After a 22-month trial featuring more than 200 witnesses, the manager of an Antelope Valley board-and-care home was acquitted Wednesday of the charge of second-degree murder in the disappearance of a woman whose body has not been found.

Jurors who found Steve Jackson innocent of the murder charge failed, however, to reach a verdict on a lesser charge of manslaughter, voting 11 to 1 for acquittal.

After spending 27 months in jail until Wednesday’s verdict, Jackson was released on his own recognizance. Superior Court Commissioner Sherman Juster set a Jan. 23 court date for the district attorney’s office to decide if Jackson will be retried on the manslaughter allegation.

Jackson, 28, had been charged with killing Julie Church, 23, of Lancaster, who disappeared in October, 1982, after being seen with Jackson at area nightspots.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives believe that the woman was killed, but her body has not been found. Her abandoned car was discovered in Los Angeles a week after she disappeared.

Jackson’s attorney, Michael Eberhardt, contended that the woman voluntarily vanished. Witnesses testified that she had broken up with her boyfriend, lost her job and withdrawn all money from her bank accounts the week before she disappeared.

Witnesses also testified that she owed a drug dealer a large amount of money. That dealer, called as a prosecution witness, testified that Jackson told him he killed Miss Church.

Other witnesses testified that they saw her in Los Angeles after the alleged date of her death.