Judge delays trial for alleged serial killer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Jackson County judge on Tuesday pushed back the trial of a suspected serial killer after defense attorneys claimed Kansas City police were slow to turn over key evidence in the case.

Circuit Court Judge John R. O'Malley said Terry Blair will go on trial in March, instead of on Oct. 1.

Blair, who attended the hearing dressed in a white shirt and dark, striped tie, is charged with killing eight women in 2003 and 2004 and dumping their bodies in Kansas City neighborhoods frequented by drug addicts and prostitutes.

Blair's attorneys had asked the judge to dismiss the murder charges or forbid the death penalty in the case, saying investigators' handling of the evidence had kept the defense from being able to do its job.

"For us to be effective ... [evidence] has to be turned over to us in a timely fashion and have a chance to look though it before we can go forward," attorney Cynthia Dryden said.

O'Malley overruled those motions but was clearly perturbed with the police.

"I can't understand why evidence is still coming forward after this [trial] has been set for 10 months," he told prosecutor Michael Hunt.

A police spokesman declined to comment, noting O'Malley has issued a gag order in the case.