Trial date set in case of twin charged with double slaying

The man accused of killing his identical twin and sister-in-law in their south Wichita apartment will be tried before a Sedgwick County jury early next year.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys during a brief hearing Friday afternoon agreed to set a Jan. 30 trial date for Luis Alvarado-Meraz, who is charged with capital murder in the Jan. 14, 2015, slayings of 24-year-old Manuel Alvarado-Meraz and 22-year-old Lucero Rodriguez.

The trial is expected to last five weeks, Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Goering said during the hearing. That time frame includes jury selection and witness testimony and evidence presentation, as well as a sentencing phase.

Alvarado-Meraz, 25, shook his head, then said “no” when asked by the judge whether he objected to a Jan. 30 start date for his trial. He was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles during the hearing and sat beside his defense attorneys and a Spanish-speaking interpreter at a table in front of the judge’s bench.

Members of his family looked on from the courtroom’s gallery.

Attorneys on Friday also agreed to meet in court June 30 to handle evidence matters leading up to the trial. Goering said the attorneys plan to have a panel of potential jurors assembled and ready to complete juror questionnaires by Dec. 14.

If Alvarado-Meraz is convicted of capital murder, his trial will be split into two parts because prosecutors plan to seek a death sentence against him.

During the guilt phase of a trial, jurors weigh testimony and evidence and render a verdict. During the penalty phase, jurors hear additional testimony and recommend a sentence for a defendant.

A capital murder conviction carries two possible sentences: life in prison without parole eligibility or execution.

Alvarado-Meraz is charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder as an alternative to capital murder. A jury can convict him of first-degree or capital murder, but not both. He pleaded not guilty in the case last July.

Alvarado-Meraz is accused of firing 21 shots at close range from an AK-47 or a handgun, killing his twin brother and sister-in-law at the apartment they all shared near Pawnee and Broadway. The twins’ father found his son and daughter-in-law’s bodies after he went to their south Wichita apartment to check on them, according to testimony at hearing last summer. Alvarado-Meraz was arrested 16 hours later.

Prosecutors think an argument preceded the shootings.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Trial date set in case of twin charged with double slaying."