Judge asked to determine what jury can hear in Lloyd Welch Jr. trial

BEDFORD (WSLS 10) - Before the trial against Lloyd Welch Jr. begins, both sides are asking the judge to decide what evidence the jury will and will not be able to hear.

Welch is set to stand trial in Bedford County for the 1975 murders of Katherine and Sheila Lyon, two young sisters from Maryland.

On Tuesday, prosecutors and Lloyd Welch's defense team offered a letter, instead of having a hearing, asking Judge James Updike to write an opinion on three issues.

The first issue pertains to an October 16, 2013, immunity letter between Welch and the Montgomery County, Maryland State's Attorney. That office said it would not use Welch's statements against him in criminal proceedings. The prosecution in Bedford needs to know if they are bound by that letter, which was signed about a year before anyone in Bedford was even involved in the case.

The second issue is that Welch wasn't read his Miranda rights before he made statements on three dates last year. In one of those statements, Welch admitted to profiling and abducting the girls from a shopping center. In court records, he is quoted as saying "I just walked 'em out of the mall. Got 'em in the car, So I'm guilty of that."

Lastly, there is also disagreement about how far into a fourth police interview Welch asked for an attorney. So the judge will decide how much, if any, of those four statements are admissible in court.

The parties asked the judge to rule before January 6, giving them time to prepare for the next hearing on January 24.