Preliminary hearing in case of assault, death of 100-year-old continued
A preliminary hearing for Kasey Nesbitt in the death of a 100-year-old woman in October will be continued to mid-June or later.
Nesbitt’s lawyer formally asked to withdraw from the case, because “her office is currently not accepting any off-grid offenses, which this one is,” Sedgwick County District Judge David Dahl said Thursday.
Dahl appointed attorney Val Wachtel to represent Nesbitt and set a tentative date of June 15 for the preliminary hearing.
Nesbitt, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Martha Schell 21 days after she allegedly was sexually assaulted last year.
Nesbitt had a preliminary hearing Dec. 9, five months before Schell’s autopsy report was completed. After it was released last month, prosecutors filed a request for another preliminary hearing to add the first-degree murder charge to the charges of rape and aggravated burglary.
He has pleaded not guilty to the rape and aggravated burglary charges.
Reach Matt Riedl at 316-268-6660 or mriedl@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RiedlMatt.
This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Preliminary hearing in case of assault, death of 100-year-old continued."