Who is Jason Lurch from The Dreams of Ada and what is their importance?

Jason Lurch (an alias) knew Tommy Ward and upset several eyewitnesses when he attended each of the preliminary hearings. In the midst of a hearing, Lurch went up to Miz Ward and told her he knew that Tommy did not commit this crime. Later, Lurch, or someone who looked like him, appeared outside the window of one of the eyewitnesses, causing her to call the police. Later, when Wyatt's investigator began checking out the information he had gathered, he came across Lurch. When the investigator learned that Lurch had access to a truck like the one identified by the eyewitnesses, he began to believe that Lurch might have been the real criminal.