Still no deal in Reer murder case

NORWALK — The final pretrial hearing for murder suspect Fred Reer was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, but proceedings did not start until noon, delaying what was expected to be a brief status update ahead of next month's planned jury trial. During the hearing, attorneys for both sides told Huron County Common Pleas Judge James Conway that there has been "progress" in ongoing plea negotiations, but they emphasized that the discussions have not produced a final agreement. Conway ordered everyone back to court at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, calling it the final opportunity to reach a resolution before trial. "If there is no deal on Monday, we are still set for trial," the judge said. The jury trial is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 5. Reer was jailed in February 2024 on a $1 million bond and, as of today, remains in the Huron County Jail. Case background Reer, of Collins, was indicted in connection with the 2017 death of Amanda Dean, a Collins woman whose disappearance and death remained under investigation for several years. He is charged with murder, gross abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. He entered a plea of not guilty during a February 2024 hearing. Dean was reported missing by her family around July 11, 2017. The Huron County Sheriff's Office briefly investigated the case, but Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took over the investigation in January 2023. According to his indictment, Reer allegedly killed Dean and "cleaned up a bloody scene with towels and rags, disposing of the bloody sheets from the bed near the shack Fred lived in with Amanda Dean."