US

Years of evidence delays trial for Ohio sex offender charged with 2 murders, 173 rape counts

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Defense attorney Bret Jordan, right, addresses the court during a pretrial hearing for Elias Acevedo, center, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Cleveland. Acevedo is charged in the cold-case murders of Christina Adkins and Pamela Pemberton in the 1990's. Both sides in the case against Acevedo said Wednesday in court they need more time to review what the prosecutor says covers “many years” of evidence. Acevedo has pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) (The Associated Press)

Defense attorney Bret Jordan, right, talks to his client, Elias Acevedo, after a pretrial hearing Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Cleveland. Acevedo is charged in the cold-case murders of Christina Adkins and Pamela Pemberton in the 1990's. Both sides in the case against Acevedo said Wednesday in court they need more time to review what the prosecutor says covers “many years” of evidence. Acevedo has pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) (The Associated Press)

Elias Acevedo looks on during a pretrial hearing Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Cleveland. Acevedo is charged in the cold-case murders of Christina Adkins and Pamela Pemberton in the 1990's. Both sides in the case against Acevedo said Wednesday in court they need more time to review what the prosecutor says covers “many years” of evidence. Acevedo has pleaded not guilty. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) (The Associated Press)

Evidence spanning many years will delay the trial of a convicted Ohio sex offender charged with two murders and 173 counts of rape.

Both sides in the Cleveland case against 49-year-old Elias Acevedo said in court Wednesday that they need more time to review the evidence.

Acevedo has pleaded not guilty. The charges against him date to the mid-1990s. The murder charges involve the deaths of a neighbor in 1994 and another woman in 1995.

Acevedo appeared in court Wednesday in an orange jail outfit and shackles. He kept his eyes down except when responding "yes" and "no" to routine questions from the judge.

The prosecutor's office says Acevedo most recently lived about a block away from Ariel Castro, who kidnapped three women and imprisoned them for about a decade.