A judge dismissed charges against man who had been accused of murdering the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians of California.

Fred Alvarez, his girlfriend and a friend were killed in a home near the reservation on July 1, 1981. The case went cold until Jimmy Hughes, the founder of the Jimmy Hughes Ministries, was arrested last year.

Hughes had worked for the tribe in security in the 1980s. Authorities said John Philip Nichols, a financial adviser for the tribe who died in 2001, hired Hughes to carry out the murders.

But new evidence prompted prosecutors to drop the case. No new charges are being planned against Hughes.

Get the Story:
Murder case dropped in 1981 CA tribal slaying (AP 7/1)
‘Octopus Murders' case dropped (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 7/2)

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