In 1967, Jack Stephen Hart was convicted of the murder of Gary Koon at a Waverly tavern, but his current attorney now says information about previous convictions on unrelated charges should not have been introduced at his murder trial at the time.

Hart, who is now 62, has since been serving a prison sentence at the Mount Olive Correctional Center, and at its predecessor, the State Correctional Center at Moundsville.

In 1979, hart was one of 15 inmates who escaped from the state penitentiary, then located in Moundsville. At the time, there were fears later found to be true that Hart was headed back to Wood County.

Hart was subsequently arrested north of the Wood County line. Current Parkersburg Police Chief Bob Newell remembers law enforcement officers being on alert after Hart's escape.

"He and another prisoner who was with him stole a car in the Schultz area of Pleasants County," Chief Newell says, "and that was how they were apprehended after that long weekend."

Shortly afterward Hart pleaded guilty in Pleasants County to another killing that took place at roughly the same time as the coon murder. The body of Clyde Williams was found near St. Marys.

Hart's present attorney, Joe Santer, says another hearing probably will take place before Judge Jeff Reed some time this summer. At that time, the judge could rule on whether or not to grant Hart a new trial on the keno murder.