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Stepdad’s New Trial Begins Over Boys’ Deaths

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A new trial is underway for a man convicted in the drowning of his 3-year-old stepson and disappearance of the boy's 2-year-old brother during an eastern Ohio camping trip.

A defense attorney tells the Zanesville Times Recorder he anticipates Richard Klein Jr. will testify in his own defense. The retrial started Tuesday.

Klein and his wife were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment and sentenced to 12 years in prison. They got new trials after an appeals court determined that a defense effort to have them tried separately was wrongly denied.

Kasey Klein's retrial is scheduled later this month.

Authorities say the toddlers wandered away from the family's campsite near the Muskingum River in June 2011. The 3-year-old's body was found in the water. His brother wasn't found.