The Region - News from Aug. 5, 1986

Murder charges were dismissed against a 24-year-old man accused of bludgeoning his pregnant wife with a rolling pin. Los Angeles Municipal Judge Samuel Mayerson ruled there was insufficient evidence to try Amer Bukhari on two counts of murder. The judge held that Bukhari’s inconsistent statements to police were the only evidence linking him to the death of his wife, Francene, 22, whose body was found in their Hollywood apartment May 21. Howard L. Weitzman, Bukhari’s attorney, said he also demonstrated that the 4 1/2-month-old fetus could not have survived outside the womb. Weitzman said his client, a Jordanian national who worked in his family’s import-export business, will return to his homeland if the charges are not refiled.