Willoughby Not Guilty
“Not Guilty.” That was the verdict today of a seven-man, six-woman jury after only five hours of deliberation. With that, Troy Dean Willoughby – accused in the 1984 murder of Jackson Waitress Elizabeth Ehlers – is free. District Court Judge Timothy Day had issued a ruling last August, vacating Willoughby’s January 29th, 2010 murder conviction, and ordering a new trial. On June 10th, 2011, the new Sublette County Prosecuting Attorney, Neal Stelting, gave notice to the defense team of previously undisclosed evidence, which could have assisted in Willoughby’s defense. The order signed by Judge Day stated (quote) “The defendant’s motion for a new trial was prompted by the disclosure of the report to the defendant by the Sublette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.” That retrial lasted a total of two weeks. The original charges against Willoughby stemmed from the discovery of the body of the 25-year-old Jackson woman outside her car at a turnout on the southern end of Hoback Canyon, June 21st, 1984. She had been shot in the head, chest and hand.
