ELIZABETH, N.J., May 31 (UPI) -- A man accused of a 1976 murder when he was 15 will be tried in a New Jersey juvenile court, prosecutors said.
Carlton Franklin, now 51, will be tried under the law in effect when he allegedly raped, stabbed and strangled his Westfield, N.J., neighbor Lena Triano, then 57. Only those 16 or older could be waived into an adult court at the time, the Union County Prosecutor's Office said.
The old penal code blocked release of Franklin's name, and media coverage of all preliminary hearings until Wednesday, when Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch issued an order granting a reporter admittance to a hearing, and release of the name of the accused, The Star-Ledger of Newark (N.J.) reported Thursday.
The slaying of Triano baffled police until a member of the prosecutor's office found evidence that, coupled with DNA evidence, implicated Franklin, the newspaper said.
State prison records say he had spent nearly two decades in jail for a separate conviction of robbery and kidnapping and was released in 1999.