Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The re-trial of a man formerly convicted in a Livingston County double homicide is on hold again after a stay of proceedings was granted by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

78-year-old Jerome Kowalski is charged in the murders of his brother and sister-in-law in Oceola Township in 2008.

Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart is presiding over the re-trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday. It’s now on hold after the appeals court granted a motion for a stay pending resolution of an application for leave to appeal.

Kowalski is being represented by Attorneys Mark Gatesman and Heather Nalley. He was earlier released on bond and placed on an alcohol and GPS tether pending the re-trial as he is elderly and in ill physical health.

Kowalski was originally convicted in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison. However, that conviction was vacated in 2019 after the revelation that the now ex-judge who presided over the case, Theresa Brennan, was involved in an inappropriate relationship with the lead prosecution witness, former State Police Detective Sean Furlong.

Gatesman previously told WHMI that Kowalski and the defense team look forward to their day in court.

Due to conflicts of interest with the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office, the case is being prosecuted by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.