A former Okaloosa County schoolteacher who was convicted of murdering his wife at their home in Baker in 1991, will be getting a new trial. Jimmy Ates – now 72 – was granted a new trial after the court overturned his conviction last week. Norma Jean Ates was shot seven times in June of 1991 in the couple’s home in Baker. The home was then set on fire. The court ruled a conversation recorded in December 2009 between a woman and Jackie Long, a man serving four life sentences for murders in Okaloosa County and Alabama, should have been made available to the defense. In the conversation Long reportedly admitted killing Norma Bates in a robbery gone bad. The new trial is scheduled for September 11th.
