SPOKANE VALLEY--A Spokane Valley murder trial is on hold because a TV show used key evidence.
Prosecutors say Patrick Gibson killed furniture store owner Brian Cole.
The judge ruled Monday to put the case in recess until July 10th. That way Gibson's defense has more time to review the DNA evidence at the center of this case, a hat worn during the crime.
Brian Cole was shot to death in his Spokane Valley furniture store. No suspect was named in the botched robbery and murder. In the struggle, Cole managed to pull off a fake beard and hat worn by the suspect.
The hat was sent to "America's Most Wanted" to be used in a television re-enactment of the crime.
Nearly 20 years later the same hat led to a break in the case. Spokane County detectives matched DNA to a registered sex offender, Patrick Gibson. Spokane County detectives arrested him last year.
Now Gibson is on trial, but his DNA isn't the only one on the hat. Prosecutors confirm, America's Most Wanted host John Walsh's DNA is on it too. He handled it during taping. There's also an actor's DNA who played the suspect on the show.
The additional DNA matches came back from the lab during the trial, which started the last week of May. Prosecutors say people with America's Most Wanted voluntarily gave comparison samples.
Now the judge is allowing a nearly month long court recess from the trial. She wants to give the defense's experts time to review this new evidence.
At this point the handling of the evidence by the television show will not cause a mistrial. The judge is allowing the extra evidence to be submitted and the trial will resume on July 10th.
