Remaining defendant in 2018 hunter death released on bond after trial delayed
ST. JOHNS — A man charged with killing a hunter in Bath Township nearly five years ago has been released on a personal bond after a judge adjourned his trial for three months.
Court records indicate 29th Circuit Judge Shannon Schlegel on Wednesday granted a $500,000 personal bond for Thomas Olson, 35, of Grand Blanc Township, on condition he wear a GPS tether and have no contact with the family of Chong Mua Yang or Olson's former co-defendant, Robert Rodway.
Yang was fatally shot while hunting at the Rose Lake State Wildlife Area in November 2018. Olson and Rodway were charged in connection with his death in December 2022, but both have denied any involvement.
Olson's release comes a month after the state Attorney General's Office dismissed a murder charge against Rodway, citing unresolved evidentiary issues, one day before Rodway was set to go on trial.
The dismissal came after Rodway's attorney, Matt Newburg, filed an emergency bond motion citing newly discovered evidence that he said could exonerate Rodway and Olson. The new evidence suggested police wrongly ruled out another local man as a suspect in Yang's death, he said.
Olson's trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 15. His new trial date is Feb. 13.
Schlegel agreed to release him on a personal bond after the AG's office did not object, court records indicate.
The judge this week also granted the AG's request that statements made by Rodway in text conversations with Olson be admitted in the trial. Prosecutors contend the messages are incriminating and show consciousness of guilt. Defense attorneys said messages referring to the death investigation were attempts at dark humor.
Schlegel this week denied a defense motion that jurors be allowed to visit the area where Yang was killed so they can properly evaluate the prosecution's theory that Olson would have been able to get to the murder scene from his GPS data-indicated positions in time to do the shooting.
In a court filing, an attorney for Olson described those assertions as "farcical."
The judge ordered that prosecutors and defense attorneys "cooperatively" go to the scene and make a report about what they find.
The judge set aside eight days in February for the trial, which could include testimony by dozens of witnesses and involve technical and scientific evidence.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Remaining defendant in 2018 hunter death released on bond after trial delayed
