Two boys facing murder charges in Kosciusko Circuit Court will have one trial in October.
Colt Lundy, 15, and Paul Gingerich, 12, are accused of killing Lundy's 59-year-old stepfather, Phil Danner, in his Cromwell home April 20.
On Thursday during a status conference in Kosciusko Circuit Court, Judge Rex Reed also granted a motion to add one count to each of the boys' charges. Lundy and Gingerich now face both murder and aiding, inducing or causing murder charges.The boys will face a jury trial that is set to begin Oct. 5, although jury selection could begin earlier. The trial is scheduled for at least three days, but Reed requested that the attorneys clear their schedules from Oct. 5 to Oct. 15 for the trial. Reed suggested that the jury selection begin before Oct. 5 because it may take a lot of time to seat a jury to hear the case.
Due to Indiana Criminal Rule 4, which says that a defendant must be tried within six months of the date charges were filed, the boys' trial must begin before Oct. 20 unless their attorneys agree to waive the rule.
However, the trial could be changed if the Indiana Court of Appeals hears an motion filed by David Kolbe, Lundy's attorney, appealing the decision to waive the 15-year-old to adult court.
In a motion filed May 24, Kolbe submitted a notice of appeal to Kosciusko Superior Court asking the trial court clerk to assemble records and transcripts of all proceedings in the case.
Lundy and Gingerich were waived from Kosciusko Juvenile Court to adult court by Judge Duane Huffer in a hearing April 29.
On May 27, Reed heard arguments regarding the consolidation of Lundy and Gingerich's cases for trial and took the matter under advisement. On May 28, Reed ruled that the cases should be consolidated into one case for trial.
Although there will be only one trial, the jury chosen for the case will rule separately on the boys' guilt or innocence, and if convicted, the boys will be sentenced separately.
A preliminary pre-trial conference will be July 8, but there probably will be at least one other pre-trial conference before the trial begins in October.
