A 71 year old man accused of double murder in Cass County will not be going to trial next month.
Defense attorneys for Robert D. Harris of Virginia requested a continuance during a pre-trial hearing Friday.
Harris is facing six counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kathleen Wzientek and Brenda Crum after their bodies were discovered in Wzientek’s home on January 13th.
Cass County State’s Attorney Craig Miller says the case has been removed from the July jury call by the court due to the defense’s request to have Mr. Harris evaluated.
“He was set for pre-trial on Friday. Mr. Harris’s defense team asked for a continuance they said they were not ready for trial. Based on that they filed a motion to have Mr. Harris undergo a psychological evaluation.”
A motion hearing has been set in the case for July 26th at 1:30 pm. Miller says the court will hear any arguments and likely make a decision on the motion during or shortly after the hearing.
Miller says there is no update to the Illinois State Police’s report on evidence submitted from the scene, however, he anticipates results from testing will be available in the near future.
Miller filed a motion of consumption in May requesting that some evidence collected in the case would need to be completely consumed while being tested by the Illinois State Police Crime Lab.