Come Monday, murder suspect Fred Reer Jr. could get justice for killing Amanda Dean

But will prosecutors and the Ohio Attorney General look the other way and not answer why Sheriff Todd Corbin failed to investigate

NORWALK — Like a delayed countdown to a NASA rocket launch, the final outcome for Fred Reer Jr. is not yet in writing but could be by this time tomorrow.

Reer, 42, is charged with murdering Amanda Dean on July 17, 2017, dismembering her body and trying to destroy the evidence by burning it on the family property and in the wooded areas near the home on Wells Road in Collins.

“We’ll see you back here next Monday morning,” Huron County Common Pleas Judge James Conway told prosecutors and Reer’s defense counsel on Dec. 2, during a brief hearing to delay Reer’s last pretrial hearing before trial gets underway in January.

THEN AND NOW: Fred Reer Jr,. left, at his arraignment in February 2024 and Fred Reer Jr., right, at a pretrial hearing Dec. 2. (Photos/Matt Westerhold)

The two sides have been talking about a plea agreement for weeks, Conway said, but Monday is the last opportunity.

It’s unknown what the two sides are negotiating. Ohio assistant attorney general Dan Kasaris declined to comment, and the AG’s office does not respond to questions or requests for interviews.