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Trial ordered in '97 student death

Jill King Greenwood
| Friday, May 27, 2005 4:00 a.m.
A Washington County woman was denied bond Thursday and a judge in Ohio ordered her to stand trial in the 1997 slaying of Baldwin Borough medical student Anthony Proviano. Marlene "Slim" Smith, 50, who also was indicted last week on three obstruction of justice charges, was denied bond because of her lack of local family ties, a history of substance abuse and the seriousness of the charges, ruled Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John M. Solovan II. He scheduled the trial for July 11. Smith, of Washington, is accused of lying to protect Douglas R. Main, 43, her ex-husband and co-defendant. Main was released on his own recognizance May 16 after defense lawyers and prosecutors told Solovan new evidence had emerged and required further investigation. Special Prosecutor Tom Hampton told Solovan yesterday that he had just received the results of tests on the new evidence, which all of the parties have been barred from discussing. The evidence affects Main's case, but not Smith's, said Solovan, who did not elaborate. Proviano, 29, a second-year medical student at the University of Cincinnati, was returning home for the holidays on Dec. 23, 1997, when he stopped at a Days Inn in St. Clairsville, Ohio. His body was found three days later, shot once in the chest, in a wooded area near the motel. Smith has been in jail since October, when she and Main were indicted on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. When asked what she was feeling after the judge ordered her to remain in jail while Main remained free, Smith said, "Nothing.''


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