SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - A judge says the second trial of a Sioux City man charged with murder will be held in Council Bluffs.
On Friday the judge granted 48-year-old Elias Wanatee’s request for a change of venue, citing pretrial publicity. The judge said Monday the trial will be held in Pottawattamie County District Court, starting Feb. 28.
Wanatee’s first trial ended in a mistrial in December after jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
Wanatee is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 17, 2016, stabbing death of 50-year-old Vernon Mace in Sioux City. There were no eyewitnesses, and police never found the weapon.
Defense attorney Jason Dunn has suggested that Wanatee acted in self-defense.
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