Murder charges against a man accused of murdering a Tulane graduate visiting from out of town to scout wedding locations have been dropped.
Just before 46-year-old Ernest Weatherspoon was to go on trial, the district attorney's office told the judge they were dismissing the charges.
District Attorney Jason Williams announced the charges in December 2021, praising investigators and witnesses for helping secure the indictment in the then-five-year-old case.
"We are hopeful that this indictment will lead to a full prosecution and conviction to hold this individual accountable for his actions," Williams declared at the time.
On May 7, 2016, 25-year-old Thomas Rolfes had just bought a couple of bottles of water from a store at Louisiana and S. Claiborne avenues when he was shot and killed. Prosecutors said Weatherspoon committed the crime as part of an armed robbery.
But a statement from the Orleans District Attorney's Office on Tuesday said that "serious issues with a critical witness' availability arose, which threatened the viability of the prosecution."
The statement said prosecutors and the victim's family agreed dismissal was the best thing to do "at this time."
