A timeline on Rebecca Middleton, murdered 20 years ago in Bermuda

TORONTO – Rebecca (Becky) Middleton, of Belleville, Ont., was murdered in Bermuda 20 years ago at age 17. These are some of the key moments in her case:

July 2, 1996: Rebecca Middleton, 17, and her friend Jasmine Meens accept rides on bikes from strangers.

July 3, 1996: Middleton’s body is found in the early hours.

July 10, 1996: Police arrest Bermudian Justis Smith, 17, and Jamaican Kirk Mundy, 21.

July 12, 1996: Police charge Smith with premeditated murder; Mundy with accessory to the crime.

Oct. 16, 1996: Mundy pleads guilty. Gets five years.

January 1998: Mundy charged with murder amid new forensic evidence.

July 1998: Britain’s Privy Council rejects attempt to prosecute Mundy again.

November 1998: Smith’s murder trial takes place. Judge Vincent Meerabux directs the jury to acquit Smith, saying there was not enough evidence against him.

January 2000: Britain’s Privy Council criticizes the judge for throwing out the case but rejects attempt to retry Smith for murder.

March 2006: Bermuda’s head of prosecutions rules out fresh charges such as serious sexual assault, torture and kidnap.

April 2007: Human-rights lawyer Cherie Booth argues at a hearing for Mundy and Smith to be tried again.

May 2007: Bermuda’s chief justice rejects new charges.