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October 29, 2004Unger hearing delayedHe is accused of slaying wifeBY JOHN FLESHERThe Associated Press BEULAH - A judge granted another delay Thursday in the preliminary hearing for an Oakland County man accused of killing his wife at a northern Michigan resort. Mark Unger, 43, of Huntington Woods, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Florence. The hearing in Benzie County District Court will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to justify a trial. The hearing has been slowed by scheduling conflicts and legal wrangling. Witnesses testified for two days in early July and one day in September. The final prosecution witness, a state police detective, is scheduled to testify Dec. 13. On Thursday, Judge Brent Danielson said he would wait at least 45 days after the prosecution rests its case - that is, until around Jan. 27 - to either dismiss the charge or send the case to trial. Florence Unger, 37, was found dead Oct. 25, 2003, at the edge of a lake at the Watervale resort about 40 miles southwest of Traverse City, where she was staying with her husband and two young sons. Prosecutors contend Mark Unger pushed her off a 12-foot-high deck onto a concrete slab, then dragged her - alive but immobile - into the water, where she drowned. Unger says he is innocent. Danielson dealt a blow to the prosecution this month by throwing out the testimony of Dr. L.J. Dragovic, the Oakland County medical examiner. Dragovic did not perform the autopsy, but supported the prosecution's version of events by saying the evidence suggests Florence Unger drowned. The autopsy listed head trauma as the cause of death. Danielson found that Dragovic's testimony did not have enough scientific basis to be admitted. The state attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case, asked Danielson to put the hearing on hold.
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