Charges withdrawn against four accused of murder

Murder charges have been dropped against four men accused in the killing of Celestino Zetina. Steven Zelaya, Daniel Anderson, Andrew Williams and Austin Rowland walked out of court today free men after police prosecutor Edwin Barallos presented a letter to Magistrate Dorothy McKenzie, signed by the D.P.P., withdrawing the charges. Apparently, the D.P.P.’s office was unable to make out even a prima facie case against the men.

That doesn’t seem to apply, however, to two others accused in the same crime, as the murder charges against Trevor Aviles and Earl Claire remain in effect and they have been further remanded to prison until their next court date on March thirteenth. The six men were jointly charged for murder after Zetina’s body was discovered on July nineteenth, 2005, near mile three and a half on the Western Highway. He had been missing for eight days. Initially, police had charged twenty-nine year old James Hyde for kidnapping Zetina, but that charge was later withdrawn.