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Charges against three men in the Lewis County cold case murders of two women in 1999 have been dropped, because of a problem with the cases.
The charges were dismissed Friday after prosecutor Mike Smith raised concerns that the magistrate who issued the criminal complaints had been involved in the original investigation as a police officer.
The bodies of the 1999 slayings of Marcus Maxine Stalnaker and her daughter, Mary Friend, have never been found.
The suspects charged in the killings are Charles S. Freeman, David Martin Hughes and Joseph Metz.
Prosecutor Smith said he plans to file new charges.
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THREE CHARGED IN COLD CASE OF MISSING LEWIS CO. WOMEN | 
