FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
April 10, 2017
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steven T. Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE ANNOUNCES THAT
SHAHAN CASE WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED AT THIS TIME
(MONTGOMERY) – The Attorney General’s Office filed a motion today in
Jefferson County Circuit Court to “nolle prosequi without prejudice” a charge against
Richard Shahan for the murder of his wife Karen Shahan in Homewood in 2013.
On January 1, 2014, Shahan was arrested at the direction of the Jefferson County
District Attorney’s Office for the July 23, 2013, murder of his wife, Karen Shahan. Karen
Shahan was found in her home stabbed to death. At that time, Richard Shahan was an
associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Birmingham. Subsequently, the Jefferson
County District Attorney’s Office obtained an indictment charging Richard Shahan for
her murder. In December of 2016, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office
recused itself from the case and requested that the Alabama Attorney General’s Office
assume the prosecution. A trial date had already been set for May 2017.
Immediately upon the matter’s referral to the Attorney General’s Office, a team
of attorneys from the Criminal Trials Division began preparations for trial. A thorough
review of the evidence and comprehensive attempts to discover new evidence led to the
conclusion that the evidence currently in the State’s possession is insufficient to move
forward with prosecution.
Today’s action effectively preserves the State’s opportunity to prosecute the case
at a later date if additional evidence is developed. There is no statute of limitation for
the prosecution of murder, so this may be done at any appropriate time in the future.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
