The Kenneth Acree murder trial may have reached its final continuance in Morgan County Court.
Acree was in court Thursday on status after both the defense and state have been waiting for multiple search warrants get completed from AT&T Mobile for phone records needed for the case.
State’s Attorney Gray Noll says that things are likely going to move forward this Spring: “Mr. Acree’s case was set for status [on Thursday]. The court called the matter, and it was continued until March 31st at 2PM. There is still some outstanding discovery that is coming in the form of some search warrants that have yet to be returned. The status on those search warrants was set for Thursday, and it has now been continued to March 31st.”
Acree is accused of shooting Robert “Joey” Schofield to death in October 2020 in rural Murrayville and then, is accused of concealing Schofield’s death by burying the body in a field near Gobblers Road in Nortonville.
Acree’s wife, Laura, and Schofield’s wife Sara have also been subsequently charged with concealment of a homicidal death in connection to Robert Schofield’s death, but are being tried in separate cases that are also on continuance.
Noll says that there is no set time line for length in a case of this magnitude: “It’s hard to say what’s normal for a first-degree murder case. Certainly, I’ve prosecuted cases that have been pending for a longer period of time and a shorter period of time when it comes to first-degree murder. First-degree murder cases are obviously the most serious classification of offenses that we prosecute, and this particular one has a lot of discovery to go over. We are going on about two years that this case has been pending. I think both parties are hopeful to have it resolved some time in the near future.”
Kenneth Acree is next due in Morgan County Circuit Court before visiting Judge Ryan Cadigan on March 31st at 2PM for further status in the case.