Dec. 10—LIMA — An April 7 jury trial for a Lima man was scheduled to begin Tuesday in Allen County Common Pleas Court on charges related to the shooting death of Lima resident Kirk Perine last year.
Michael Oliphant’s case — in which he faces two counts of murder and three counts of assault, each with firearm specifications for three years — has been in limbo for months after Oliphant waived his right to a speedy trial in July 2023 because the counsel was waiting for a report. from the Public Prosecution Service’s advisory expert on Oliphant’s mental state at the time of the offense, which the state expert will also have to assess.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Thines wrote in a motion filed Oct. 11 requesting a continuation of the jury trial originally scheduled for October: “Defendant’s expert relied on more than 2,000 pages of documents that were not reviewed by the state’s expert when they wrote their report.”
During an earlier hearing in Lima Municipal Court, Lima Police Department Detective Matt Boss said he responded to a report of shots fired near Feltz Chiropractic on Allentown Road on the evening of February 15, 2023, and learned of witnesses that a black man wearing red clothing fired a firearm in the direction of employees in the chiropractic office parking lot before running east through a nearby alley.
Witnesses told police that the man then contacted Perine and got into a car with the victim. Another witness said the man, identified as Oliphant, then exited the vehicle — which was parked in the middle of North Rosedale Avenue — and shot one round through the vehicle’s windshield.
Perine, 59, was found deceased in the car from a single gunshot wound to the chest, Boss said.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
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