New suspect charged in killing of student

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark., Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A former neighbor has been charged with killing an Arkansas college student whose boyfriend was acquitted of the crime.

Bail was set Monday at $1 million for Gary William Dunn, 29, of Dover, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Jack McQuary, the special prosecutor in the case, said after he announced the charges against Dunn that he believes Kevin Jones, 22, also of Dover, is innocent of any part in the crime.

"I would not have filed charges against Gary Dunn if I thought that Kevin Jones was guilty of the homicide of Nona Dirksmeyer," McQuary said.

Dirksmeyer, 19, an Arkansas Tech University student and frequent beauty pageant contestant, was found lying in a pool of blood in her Russellville apartment in December 2005. She was wearing only a pair of socks and had been choked, beaten and stabbed.

After Jones's acquittal last year, his lawyers continued to investigate the case, seeking to prove him innocent. They said that they found evidence that Dirksmeyer was raped, including Dunn's DNA on a condom wrapper mixed with the victim's.

Investigators said that Dunn denies knowing Dirksmeyer or killing her. He lived in the same apartment complex at the time.