Houser and Mathis in Court on Concealment Charges

Zebediah Houser and Kristy Mathis were in court Monday morning on counts of concealment of a homicidal death.

Houser and Mathis are charged with assisting Christine Burr with disposing of the body of Joseph Delaney of Effingham after Burr allegedly stabbed Delaney to death sometime after July 1, 2011.

Houser's attorney, Conflicts Public Defender Richard Runde remains ill so Houser asked for different counsel.  Ed Deters was next on the list, but Houser is believed to be extended term eligible if he is found guilty and that would involve cases from when Deters was State's Attorney, so local attorney Lance Freezeland was assigned the case.

Houser is due in court this Thursday, February 27.

As for Mathis, her counsel, local attorney Lupita Thompson said she is not finished going over case information with her client so asked for the case to be continued.  The matter was continued until the April 14 trial calendar, with a pre-trial hearing on April 1.

Burr's case is also on the April 14 trial calendar.