Mathis Trial Continued to March

The trial of one of three co-defendants charged with concealment of a homicidal death has been continued one month.

Kristy Mathis is the daughter of Christine Burr, the woman charged with first degree murder in the stabbing death of Joseph Delaney at their apartment in Effingham.  Mathis and Zebediah Houser are charged with Burr with the concealment of Delaney's body and dumping it in a wooded area in rural Jasper County.

Defense attorney Lupita Thompson said she has received no information from the State's Attorney's office on the case.  Assistant State's Attorney Scott Ealy said the State has taken over investigation of the case and said his office is still awaiting evidence including State Crime Lab information on the case.  Ealy noted the special circumstances surrounding the case, in that an anonymous tip led authorities to the murder, which was not even known to have occurred until recent weeks, but could have occurred as long ago as July 2011.

Ealy asked that the matter be continued, to which Thompson objected.  Judge Sherri Tungate granted the delay over Thompson's objection, but Ealy said he would talk with Thompson after court today to share information on the matter.

Mathis is now due to go on trial March 10, with a pre-trial hearing on Febrary 24.  Any delay in the case will be charged to the State, not to Mathis, who remains in custody in Effingham County Jail.