Jury deliberates in Steven Koon murder trial, no verdict yet

Jurors in the Steven Koon murder trial ended their first day of deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict, leaving Grand Traverse County with a case that has tied together a 1989 killing, modern DNA testing and a cold-case investigation that stretched over decades.

The panel is set to resume Monday as it weighs whether prosecutors proved that Koon killed Linda Meteer, a Traverse City mother of five whose body was found in the Hoosier Valley area of Grand Traverse County on April 27, 1989. The two-week trial began June 1 in Grand Traverse County Circuit Court after jury selection, and the case moved to deliberations after prosecutors rested and the defense finished presenting its case Thursday.

At the center of the prosecution’s case was forensic evidence the state says connects Koon’s vehicle to the crime scene. Testimony focused on fibers recovered from Koon’s car that prosecutors said shared the same characteristics as fibers found where Meteer’s body was discovered. Jurors also heard about a hair recovered from the vehicle, mitochondrial DNA testing and records preserved from the original investigation. Prosecutors showed video of Koon’s 2025 arrest on an open murder warrant as they asked jurors to view the evidence as part of a reopened cold case, not a forgotten file.

The defense countered by attacking the handling of the forensic evidence and decades-old records, pressing jurors to question whether the state’s testing and documentation were enough to meet the burden of proof. Friends of Meteer and investigators who worked the case nearly four decades ago also testified, along with a former Grand Traverse County detective who said he interviewed Koon in 2024. Earlier in the case, a judge ruled there was enough evidence to move the matter forward after about five and a half hours of testimony, and Koon was denied bond at arraignment.

Koon, now 64 and living in Leelanau County, was arrested and charged in February 2025 after the case was reexamined with help from dedicated detectives, the Western Michigan University cold case program, Michigan State Police forensic labs and newer forensic methods. The delay in a verdict shows how much is at stake for Meteer’s family, who have waited 37 years for a final answer, and for Koon, who faces the possibility of a murder conviction or an acquittal if jurors agree the evidence does not prove the case. If the panel remains split, the court could end in a mistrial, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to try the case again and extending uncertainty for both families and the community.