Murder and robbery charges against a Cocolalla man implicated in a cold-case homicide in California were dismissed on Thursday.

San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Alexander Martinez granted a district attorney's motion to dismiss the charges against Christian Leonard Bunty Sr.

"They're letting an innocent man go home today," Bunty's sister, who agreed to comment on the condition that she not be identified, said by phone from Victorville, Calif.

Deputy District Attorney Sean Daugherty moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, which means the charges against Bunty could be revived at a later date.

Daugherty presented the motion during a readiness hearing in the case, according to court minutes.

Chase believes the motion was brought because the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to go forward with a trial, which was slated to start this month.

Bunty, 42, was arrested in Sagle in 2012 on two counts of murder, in addition to single counts of robbery and conspiracy. James Linzy Franklin, 43, was likewise charged.

The charges stemmed from the disappearance of two men in Barstow, Calif., in 1995. Barstow Police said Bunty and Franklin lured Mark Wayne Adamson and Joseph Gerald Riley into the desert to sell them pseudoephedrine, an ingredient used to make methamphetamine, but instead robbed and killed them.

The bodies of Adamson and Riley, however, were never found.

Bunty subsequently relocated to Idaho, where he raised his family and founded an excavation business. Franklin was later convicted of an unrelated homicide in Big Bear, Calif., and is serving a lifelong prison sentence.

The case against Franklin is still pending and a hearing is set for April 18.

Friends and family have rallied behind Bunty and accused authorities in California of railroading him.

Bunty's sister said her brother has remained strong throughout.

"He's had a glow about him through this entire thing," she said.