Mesa County Judge Harold Moss Monday appointed the public defender to represent Kenneth H. Botham Jr., charged in four premeditated murders.
Public Defender Robert Emerson said Monday afternoon he does not know whether he will be able to put together needed information in time for the preliminary hearing scheduled on Dec. 19.
If he cannot do so, Emerson said he would seek a continuance on the hearing until a later date. Judge Moss has already indicated he will agree to such a continuance.
Meanwhile, Judge Moss said he had not received a statement of Botham’s assets by Monday afternoon. Gary Cowan, a private attorney, was appointed by the judge to tally those assets, in an attempt to determine whether Botham was indigent, partially indigent or capable of paying for his own defense lawyer.
Botham is charge with the Aug. 23 murders of his wife, Pat; Mrs. Linda Miracle and her two sons, Troy and Chad. Their bodies were found in the Gunnison River in late September, tied and weighted down.