Democratic challenger Stan Levco wasted no time during his opening remarks at last night's debate at WNIN for Vanderburgh County Prosecutor. "I’ve said that Mr Hermann’s poor performance is what lost the Aleah Beckerle case," Levco said.
"I think that that was a difficult case," Hermann said when a panelist asked.
Aleah Beckerle, a 19-year-old who used a wheelchair, couldn’t feed herself, and experienced severe seizures, disappeared in 2016. Her body was found the following year.
Terrence Roach was charged with her murder. Earlier this year, a jury found him not guilty of the murder, but did convict him of other charges.
Hermann was prosecuting attorney.
"There were a lot of theories," Hermann said. "There were a lot of things that came out in the news media with regard to who may have done it and what may have happened. And, I think, ultimately, that may have led to the result that we got."
Levco responded when it was his turn to answer. "I don’t know that he didn’t take it seriously enough but he didn’t try it seriously enough," Levco said of Hermann.
Levco was the prosecutor for 20 years before he lost to Hermann in the 2010 election.