Columbus police detectives will look at the case of a slain Clintonville girl and decide whether the nearly 39-year-old file has enough evidence to reinvestigate. Christie Mullins was 14 when she was beaten with a board behind Graceland Shopping Center off N. High Street, a few blocks from her home, on Aug. 23, 1975.

Columbus police detectives will look at the case of a slain Clintonville girl and decide whether the nearly 39-year-old file has enough evidence to reinvestigate.

Christie Mullins was 14 when she was beaten with a board behind Graceland Shopping Center off N. High Street, a few blocks from her home, on Aug. 23, 1975.

Kim Mullins, who was 13 when Christie died, said that the fresh review of her sister�s death is welcome news.

�I am overjoyed and hopeful,� she said yesterday. �The police, they�re the ones who can get answers. I hope that people will go to them and talk to them.�

Kim Mullins was the last person in the family to see Christie alive. Police didn�t interview her back then, but she said she hopes to talk to them now.

Interest in the case was renewed last month when a writer started asking questions about the case and the Clintonville Area Commission sent a letter to state and local officials asking for a formal review.

Police have responded by assigning detective Steve Eppert to evaluate the case file for �points of solvability,� Sgt. Eric Pilya, who oversees the cold-case squad, said yesterday.

Eppert will assess the evidence, including whether any could be tested for DNA; try to find witnesses, if any are still around; and review information about suspects who might have been considered. The process is expected to take several weeks.

�If after the assessment we see it�s not a good, viable case to be solved, it�ll remain open but inactive until we get enough information to solve it,� Pilya said.

He asked anyone with information to call cold-case detectives at 614-645-4036.

Immediately after the homicide, police thought they had the case solved. A man with severe developmental disabilities was accused, and he confessed to the crime.

But when questions were raised about Jack Carmen�s mental capacity, his guilty plea was withdrawn and he was acquitted by a jury in December 1977.

The case has remained open and unsolved since then.

From the beginning, many suspected that 25-year-old Henry Newell Jr. committed the crime.

Newell said he had been hiking with his family in the woods behind the shopping center and came upon a man, whom he later identified as Carmen, swinging a board. Newell testified that Carmen ran off and he found Christie, who was already dead.

Newell, who died last year, had a lengthy criminal record but never was charged with Christie�s slaying.

Pilya said police have received one tip in the past month, via Crime Stoppers. It came from a niece of Newell�s who said he told her he had killed Christie.

Kim Mullins said she always thought officials have cared about the case but that, after the high-profile trial, it was set aside as more-pressing crimes came along. Columbus police have some 800 unsolved cases dating back to 1955.

�If the police do everything they can and talk to everyone they can, that�s all we can ask for,� Mullins said.

And if no new answers come? �As Christians, we�ll believe it�s in God�s hands. We always have."

amanning@dispatch.com

@allymanning

hzachariah@dispatch.com

@hollyzachariah