Retrial in La Salle County bow and arrow killing moved to May 17

The suspect in the 2015 bow-and-arrow killing will not stand trial in mid-March. An attorney for Bradley French said he and prosecutors are in negotiations and want additional time before sending for a jury.

French, 27, formerly of Varna, now is set for a second murder trial May 17, giving lawyers in the case additional time to work out some issues. Assistant Public Defender Doug Kramarsic said in open court that there may not be a deal.

“I’m not telling the court we’re close by any means, your honor,” Kramarsic told Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr.

Ryan nonetheless agreed to move the do-over trial, once set for March 15. La Salle County judges and attorneys generally have moved trials to late spring or early summer in being mindful of the COVID-19 pandemic.

French would face 20-60 years in prison if again convicted of first-degree murder. He admitted to shooting Joshua Scaman of Ottawa with a razor-tipped hunting arrow, causing Scaman to bleed to death, in a remote parking lot in 2015.

French tried to argue that he fired in self-defense, and an appeals court reversed his conviction and sent it back after ruling that he was not properly afforded a chance to argue self-defense.

French will next appear May 7 for a final pretrial conference.