CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The trial date has been moved for an accused murderer in Kanawha County.
On Friday, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman moved the trial date for Arthur Owen Woods, 40, of Mt. Nebo, to January 23 at 9 a.m. with the final pretrial being January 17 at 10:30 a.m.
Woods pleaded not guilty in May in the March 2016 death of his wife, Starina Woods, who went missing that month in Charleston.
Kanawha County Defense Attorney David Ford cited Friday that the defense needs more time to collect information from the 3-year old case. Ford said being that Woods was just indicated in May, they’ve only had a few months on the extensive case.
“We’ve been to Nicholas County where a lot of this has occurred, two or three times,” Ford said. “We just need more time to gather this information from the state, get it to our experts and for us to analyze and interview these witnesses to line up.”
Investigators in the case previously said that Starina Woods voiced concerns about being in an abusive relationship. Her body was never found.
Woods never reported his wife missing, telling authorities she had left for Ecuador. They had been living together in Charleston at the time before Woods moved to Nicholas County.
The trial has been moved several times.