Court Going Out of State in Murder Trial

An Arizona judge will take his court to Illinois to hear evidence from a man suffering from cancer in a child-murder case involving an ex-convict from Southern California.

The trial of Frank Atwood, 30, is set to begin in Phoenix on Jan. 19, but an FBI witness won’t be available to testify because he is suffering from inoperable cancer. Pima County Superior Court Judge John Hawkins decided to accompany attorneys to take a deposition from the witness, Tim Carlson, at Rockford, Ill., on Oct. 23.

Atwood is accused of kidnaping 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in September, 1984, from a street near her Tucson elementary school. The girl’s skeletal remains were found in the desert in May, 1985.

Crucial Testimony

Carlson’s testimony is crucial because the case is based largely on circumstantial evidence. Carlson was the FBI laboratory technician who said paint scrapings on Atwood’s car matched those from the child’s abandoned bicycle.

Investigators believe Hoskinson’s bicycle was hit in the street and that she was forced into a car. Atwood was arrested at Kerrville, Tex., when he stopped for car repairs several days later.

Medical examiners were unable to pinpoint the cause of Hoskinson’s death. No murder weapon was found.

Lawyers will question Carlson under oath and Hawkins will be present to resolve any disputes on rules of evidence.

Deposition Required

John Davis III, assistant Arizona attorney general, said an out-of-state deposition is required because of the “substantial likelihood” that Carlson will be unavailable for the trial. He is undergoing chemotherapy at present.

Atwood has a history of child molesting, authorities said. Four months before Hoskinson vanished, Atwood was paroled from the California State Prison at Vacaville on a 1981 conviction.

Atwood had been serving five years for kidnaping a 7-year-old boy at Will Rogers Memorial State Park, not far from the home of Atwood’s parents at Marina del Rey. The boy was forced to perform oral sex, court records said.

Hoskinson’s parents have filed civil suits against the state of California and John and Alice Atwood. The complaints allege that the parole was not properly supervised and the parents failed to tell authorities that their son violated parole by leaving home.