The family of American Indian Movement activist Anna Mae Pictou Aquash is "devastated" by the delay in the trial of a Canadian man accused of murdering her in 1975.

John Graham was set to go to trial on Monday. But a federal judge dismissed the indictment against him due to questions about his status as an "Indian."

Federal prosecutors filed a new indictment but Aquash's older daughter, Denise Maloney Pictou, said Graham "off the cruelest of 11th hour heists" by challenging the charges, the Associated Press reported. "After 33 years, our family's journey is beginning to feel more like an exorcism of truth than a quest for justice," she said.

Graham is from the Southern Tutchone First Nation in the Yukon of Canada but is not a member of a U.S.-recognized tribe. He says he is not "Indian" so he can't be charged in federal court.

Get the Story:
Aquash family 'devastated' over Graham case delay (AP 10/7)

Relevant Documents:
Dismissal of John Graham Indictment | New John Graham Indictment

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