Updated

Citing insufficient evidence, Los Angeles prosecutors have suddenly dropped a murder case against professional tennis referee Lois Goodman in the death of her husband.

A judge dismissed the case Friday without prejudice, meaning it could be brought back.

The 70-year-old Goodman was accused of bludgeoning her 80-year-old husband Alan to death with a coffee cup in April.

Authorities initially believed he fell down stairs at home while his wife was away, but later decided it was homicide after a mortuary reported suspicious injuries.

Goodman was arrested in New York in August as she arrived to be a line judge in the U.S. Open.