Iowa soldier pleads not guilty in 2005 murder

Iowa soldier pleads not guilty in 2005 murder
October 14, 2009 00:02 AM

A U.S. Army reservist from Altoona pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Polk County District court to a 2005 hit-and-run murder. Justin Pollard, 26, was arrested a second time for the murder last week after returning from a second tour of duty in Iraq. He has been placed in a pretrial release program until his next court appearance, Nov. 16.

Pollard just completed a 400-day tour with the 339th Military Police Company. He had been deployed at a military prison camp maintained by the U.S. military near Umm Qasr, Iraq. Pollard was originally charged with first-degree murder in 2006 after the 2005 hit-and-run death of Annamarie Rittman, 46, of Altoona. Rittman was hit before dawn in the parking lot at Lowe's in Altoona. Prosecutors dropped the charge in 2007 after a key piece of evidence, a surveillance videotape, was ruled inadmissible. A judge decided the video could not be shown to a jury because it is played 30 percent faster than real time. The FBI conducted a new analysis of the videotape this year. A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Rittman's husband and three children was recently postponed. The videotape shows a red pickup driving through the parking lot, then turning around and striking Rittman from behind as she walked toward the Lowe's store. Pollard's truck had a dented bumper plus stickers on the back window similar to those seen on the truck in the videotape. But no fibers, human tissue or DNA linking Pollard to Rittman were found in the vehicle during the original investigation.

p. 1/1

(Image: MARY CHIND/ THE REGISTER)

- One dead in Boone-area plane crash
- Drake University's new "D-plus" marketing logo raises eyebrows