Lane County DA to Retry 35-Year-Old Murder Case After Bite Mark Conviction Vacated

 






EUGENE, Ore. — Court records appear to indicate that Lane County prosecutors are moving forward with a retrial of Robert Wallace Lyons, the Pendleton man whose 1990 aggravated murder conviction was vacated earlier this month over now-discredited bite mark evidence.

Lyons, 61, was arraigned in Lane County Circuit Court on June 25, 2026. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, was appointed counsel, and a pre-trial conference hearing has been scheduled for July 16, 2026, at 2:30 p.m., according to court records.
Neither Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa nor his office has issued a statement regarding the case as of yet.
A Marion County post-conviction court vacated Lyons’ conviction on June 16, marking the first successful challenge under Oregon’s new Senate Bill 1515, which recognizes bite mark analysis as unreliable “junk science.”
“Mr. Lyons was wrongfully convicted based almost entirely on junk science,” said Byron Lichstein, one of his attorneys from the Forensic Justice Project. “He deserves this chance to clear his name.”
Lyons was convicted of the 1989 strangulation murder of Lori Marlene Jones Stabenow, who was found partially undressed with bite marks on her body in a room at Eugene’s Stage Stop Inn. Lyons, then 25 and staying at the same motel, had been drinking with Stabenow and others the night before. His wallet was later found near her bed.
The original conviction relied heavily on testimony from a forensic odontologist linking Lyons’ teeth to the bite marks, evidence now widely rejected by the scientific community.Because the case is more than 35 years old, prosecutors face significant hurdles in reassembling evidence and locating witnesses for a retrial without the discredited bite mark comparison.
Lyons has maintained his innocence throughout his decades of incarceration. His legal team argues the original case rested on flawed forensic science rather than reliable proof.
The upcoming pre-trial conference will address scheduling, discovery, and other procedural matters. No trial date has been set. Lyons is currently being held in the Lane County where he is facing his original four felony charges that include aggravated murder.
Information from court documents/records and jail records.
© Written by: M. Weber
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