BLOOMINGTON - The cloud of a possible second trial on charges that he murdered his former girlfriend 15 years ago has made it difficult for Alan Beaman to find a steady job since his release from prison on bond in June.

Beaman, now 36, lives with his parents in Rockford and has worked as a handyman, according to petitions filed Dec. 17 seeking to declare Beaman an indigent person for court-related expenses.

A murder conviction in the stabbing death of Jennifer Lockmiller in her Normal apartment was reversed in May by the Illinois Supreme Court. McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder said his office intends to try Beaman again on the charges.

Beaman was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the death of the 22-year-old Decatur woman, but was released in June after his family posted $25,000.

Thirteen years behind bars has left Beaman with a modest checking account balance from seasonal work and few job prospects, said defense lawyer Karen Daniel with the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law.

Beaman "is underemployed; he has already lost one job for no reason other than this re-prosecution hanging over his head," according to his lawyers, who are asking that legal costs, including the preparation of transcripts, be waived.

The financial difficulties Beaman faces include $100,000 in personal debts related to his defense for the first trial, said Daniel.

The bond posted by Barry and Carol Beaman to secure their son's release after the high court ruling should not have an impact on Beaman's effort to be considered indigent, the defense argued.

The defense team from the Bluhm clinic joined defense lawyer Jeffrey Urdangen in 2002 to work on Beaman's appeals. Urdangen is now a member of the legal clinic and along with the Chicago firm of Schiff Hardin, donates services because of Beaman's financial situation.

At a Dec. 17 hearing in McLean County court, Beaman's attorneys and McLean County Chief Felony Prosecutor Mark Messman agreed to send 10 items of evidence to a private lab for possible DNA testing.

Fingernail clippings from Lockmiller, blood samples from two other men who knew Lockmiller and potential DNA collected from the handle of scissors removed from the victim's chest are among the items Orchid Cellmark could test.

The lab work could take two months to complete.

Beaman, then an Illinois Wesleyan University student from Rockford, was convicted in 1995 of the August 1993 stabbing and strangulation of Lockmiller, a 22-year-old Illinois State University student.

The state Supreme Court overturned his conviction in May, saying the trial court erred in not allowing the defense to present evidence about a second suspect.

A ruling on the petition for indigency is expected when Beaman returns to court for a Jan. 29 hearing to review the status of the case.