Judge vacates 1999 Columbus murder conviction; new trial set as evidence targets new murderer

COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Bartholomew County man, imprisoned since 1999 for the murder of Sharon Myers, is no longer guilty.

On Friday, a judge vacated the two-decade-old conviction of Jason Hubbell and ordered a new trial be held on Oct. 2, 2025.

Hubbell, who worked at Arvin Industries with Myers, was found guilty of the 1997 murder of the young mother and sentenced to 75 years in prison. But Hubbell maintained his innocence.

In August, an investigation undertaken by Hubbell from behind prison walls and the Exoneration Justice Clinic at the Notre Dame Law School led to a wealth of new evidence being presented to a Bartholomew County judge.

This evidence pointed to Michael Dean Overstreet as the true alleged murderer of Sharon Myers. Overstreet is currently on Indiana’s Death Row for the slaying of Kelly Eckart, which happened just four months before Myers was killed.

According to the new information filed in court, a man matching Overstreet’s description was the last person seen approaching Sharon Myers in the parking lot of Arvin in Columbus early in the morning in May 1997. A white van was also in the vicinity.

When Overstreet was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing 19-year-old Kelly Eckart, he was said to have committed the deed in the back of a white van.

The documents also point out that Myers’ body, found at Camp Atterbury, was not far from the spot where investigators said Overstreet killed Eckart.

Hubbell’s Petition for Post-Conviction Relief claims that investigators found no physical evidence linking him to Myer’s murder and no eyewitnesses who put him at the scene.

The petition also includes at least nine instances when detectives either refused to follow through on tips regarding Overstreet’s potential involvement in the Myers killing or prosecutors withheld crucial information from defense attorneys that could have led to Hubbell’s acquittal at trial.

Hubbell requested a new trial based on this information. On Friday, a judge agreed and vacated the conviction that has kept Hubbell behind bars for 26 years.