(LEX 18)– The accused killer of Bobby Jones and Crystal Warner was in court Thursday morning.
Relatives of the couple say that in July 2016, Jones and Warner went to check on Craig Pennington. Pennington was renting a cabin from them in Washington County and the families say he was behind on his payments.
The bodies of Bobby Jones and Crystal Warner were found in separate counties, months apart.
Pennington has been accused of their murders.
In court on Thursday, the defense asked for the dismissal of charges, acknowledging that this may strike the judge as an extreme request. They said that what they were really seeking was the motion to exclude the death penalty. The defense argued that information in the case is still being unearthed and some evidence has not yet been entered into discovery.
The defense argued that for the capital murder case, they do not have enough time to adequately prepare for the trial, scheduled for February 2019.
The judge made no decision Thursday and has scheduled a hearing to reconvene on December 19.
“You want to get it done as soon as possible, but we want it to be done right, and we want justice to be done, justice to be served,” said Bobby Jones’ father, William Jones.
