Dec. 10—LIMA — On Tuesday, a Lima man’s jury trial was scheduled to begin April 7 in the Allen County Common Pleas Court for charges related to the shooting death of Lima resident Kirk Perine last year.
Michael Oliphant’s case — where he is facing two counts of murder and three counts of felonious assault, each with three-year firearm specifications — has been in limbo for months after Oliphant waived his speedy trial rights in July 2023 because counsel was waiting on a report from the public defender’s office’s consulting expert about Oliphant’s mental state at the time of the offense, which the state’s expert will also have to review.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Thines wrote in a motion filed Oct. 11 requesting a continuation of the jury trial originally scheduled in October that “Defendant’s expert relied upon more than 2,000 pages of records that were not reviewed by the state’s expert when they authored their report.”
During a previous Lima Municipal Court hearing, Lima Police Detective Matt Boss said he responded to a report of shots fired near Feltz Chiropractic on Allentown Road on the evening of Feb. 15, 2023, and learned from witnesses that a Black man wearing red clothing had discharged a firearm in the direction of employees in the parking lot of the chiropractic office before running eastbound through a nearby alley.
Witnesses told police the man then made contact with Perine and got into a vehicle with the victim. Another witness said the man, identified as Oliphant, then exited the vehicle — which was parked in the middle of North Rosedale Avenue — and fired one bullet through the vehicle’s windshield.
Perine, 59, was found deceased inside the car as a result of a single gunshot wound to the chest, Boss said.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
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