Poisoning Suspect Expected to Post Bail : Indictment: Richard Overton, accused of killing his wife three years ago, is likely to be freed today, attorney says.

Richard K. Overton, a part-time college professor accused in the poisoning death of his wife three years ago, is expected to be released from custody today on $250,000 bail, his attorney said Wednesday.

During a brief court appearance Wednesday, attorney Robert D. Chatterton asked that his client’s arraignment be postponed until today, when arrangements could be completed to use Overton’s Dana Point home as collateral for the bond.

A two-page murder indictment, handed down by the Orange County Grand Jury and unsealed Wednesday, charges that Overton murdered his wife, Jan Overton, on Jan. 24, 1988, “by the administration of poison.”

According to the indictment, the grand jury heard testimony from 22 witnesses, including Overton’s son, Eric, and about half a dozen people who appear to be law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors declined further comment on the case.

Jan Overton, 46 at the time of her death, was vice president of the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees. She was the mother of six children and stepchildren and a former president of the Orange County School Boards Assn.

At first, the cause of death was undetermined. But in February, 1989, the coroner’s office said that cyanide poisoning had contributed to her death.

Richard Overton, 63, a mathematics and computer specialist, denied any part in his wife’s death, but has been under suspicion for at least two years, when he hired Chatterton.

Because of the passage of time, Chatterton said Wednesday, “I’m hopeful that the information I need to gather is still going to be accessible. . . . It’s going to be tough.”

Jan Overton was Richard Overton’s third wife. His present wife, Carol Townsend, was in the courtroom Wednesday when the arraignment was postponed.

Richard Overton’s neighbors on a quiet cul-de-sac in Dana Point said they were shocked by his arrest and concerned about the couple’s son, Eric.

They said Richard Overton had been renting out the house and that Eric has moved in with an older sister.

“Eric, that’s who I’m concerned about,” said Frances Roberts, a neighbor for 11 years.

Although she and Jan Overton talked, Roberts described the family as “non-communicative” and “just different.”

She said Jan Overton told her once that she was thinking about divorcing her husband. Shortly, thereafter, Richard Overton took a job in Atlanta that kept him away for weeks at a time, Roberts said.

“Then, Jan came up and said, ‘Now I have the best of both worlds,’ ” Roberts said.

Dagmar Geach, who said she played backgammon with Jan Overton every day, said she was not sure if the couple were happy, but thought that “if Jan were unhappy, she would’ve left.”

Times staff writer Lily Dizon and correspondent Zion Banks contributed to this report.