Ore. judge rules: Wilberger killing trial to move

Ore. judge rules: Wilberger killing trial to move


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -- The man accused of killing Brooke Wilberger won't be tried in Corvallis, even though his lawyers say he now doesn't want a change of venue.

Judge Locke Williams refused on Friday to reverse a decision to move the trial from Benton County, a decision made at the request of Joel Courtney's lawyers.

On Friday, they told the judge that Courtney now trusts that residents of Benton County can judge him fairly. Prosecutor John Haroldson said Courtney was just trying to delay the trial.

Courtney, now 43 years old, is accused of murder. Wilberger disappeared at age 19 in 2004. She was a Brigham Young University student back in Oregon for the summer. Her body has not been found.

Williams hasn't chosen a trial site.

------

Information from: Gazette-Times

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast