George Joseph’s attorney requested a change of a venue and a change of judge in Cape Girardeau County Court on Monday. Joseph is accused of killing his wife, Mary Joseph, and their son, Matthew, on May 30. He then tried to kill himself.
Defense attorney Bryan Greaser requested the change of venue and the change of judge due to the case’s pre-trial publicity.
“We felt that it would be necessary to get a fair jury selection in the event that the case were to go to trial down the road to have this case tried in front of a jury who has not had any prior knowledge of the case whatsoever,” Greaser said.
Judge Benjamin Lewis will rule on the venue next Monday.
“If the prosecution and I can agree on a venue, then we can stipulate to that,” Greaser said. “If we cannot, then Judge Lewis would send the case to the Missouri Supreme Court and they would decide what venue we’ll end up having.”
George Joseph entered a plea of not guilty at the associate level, and Greaser said he will plead not guilty in circuit court.
