TECUMSEH – A murder trial is scheduled to start in Nemaha County, 3,066 days after Tyler Thomas disappeared from the Peru State College campus.
District Judge Ricky Schreiner set aside three weeks, April 8 to 26, for the trial of a former college student Joshua Keadle.
Eight members of Thomas’ family attended the court hearing Monday.
Thomas’s father, Kevin Semans, said he is relieved a trial date has finally been set.
Her mother, La Tanya, said the wheels of justice are turning slowly, but they are turning.
At preliminary hearing earlier this year, Keadle’s attorney said the 19-year-old Thomas was alive when Keadle left her near the Peru Boat Ramp on Dec. 3, 2010.
The attorney said the freshman probably became disorientated and fell in the river.
Prosecutor Douglas Warner said there are no motions pending, but some may arise before the trial date.
He said three weeks is set aside because there are many witnesses, including hundreds that were involved in the search for the missing Thomas. He said a large jury pool is expected to be called.
