Defense wants body of teen-ager exhumed

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Attorneys for a man accused of killing a 13-year-old Tulsa boy in 1989 have asked a court to again order the exhumation of the boy's body. <br><br>Prosecutors are fighting the

Thursday, April 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Attorneys for a man accused of killing a 13-year-old Tulsa boy in 1989 have asked a court to again order the exhumation of the boy's body.

Prosecutors are fighting the request.

Wayne Henry Garrison was charged last fall with first-degree murder in the death of Justin Wiles, whose remains were founds cattered around Lake Bixhoma.

Garrison was arrested as he walked out of a North Carolina prison where he had served a sentence for drugging a boy. A judge in Tulsa has ruled there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.

Attorneys want the remains examined by an expert it retains to "correctly examine the teeth" of Justin to compare them with police photographs of Garrison's arm.

The body had been exhumed in August and a forensic dentist examined and made molds of available dental evidence recovered from the grave.

The dentist testified in Garrison's preliminary hearing that it was possible that marks on Garrison's arm could have been caused by the boy's uncommon bite.

Garrison told police the marks came when he was struck by an entrenching tool during a fight with his brother.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Collier said the defense hasn't demonstrated a need to exhume the body. He said the defense would have access to dental castings and other material linked to the forensic dentist's findings.

Garrison was convicted in 1975 of the death of a 3-year-old. As a teen, he also confessed to killing his 4-year-old cousin.