Hearing set for duo in murder case

A preliminary hearing is scheduled this week for a man and woman being held in the robbery-related murder of longtime Bartlesville resident Timothy Hauser.

Special Judge Stuart Tate announced the hearing date Friday during an appearance in Osage County District Court by Rusty Boyd Petty and Trysta Alberta Eileen Shaffer. It is set for Friday, beginning at 9 a.m.

Petty, 41, and Shaffer, 29, are charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon connected to the death of Hauser. They have been in custody for the past eight months in lieu of $1 million bonds.

It also was revealed Friday that the two defendants will continue to be represented by local attorneys with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System. The court was informed that no lawyers would be available from the OIDS Capital Division — a branch of the state-funded legal service that specializes in death penalty cases.

Bartlesville attorneys Glenn Davis and Rod Ramsey have been providing the legal representation for Shaffer and Petty, respectively.

Both of the suspects had been living in Bartlesville at the time of Hauser’s disappearance, in August 2012.

Last December, human remains linked to Hauser were found in a remote area located a few miles from the Osage County casino where the 61-year-old had last been seen alive.

Previous hearings that had been scheduled in the case were postponed while law enforcement officials awaited autopsy reports from the state medical examiner’s office.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Fisher will serve as the state’s lead prosecutor in the case.

Fisher is the primary assistant for Osage County District Attorney Rex Duncan.

The Fisher announcement came during a Jan. 18 court appearance at which it was revealed that state psychiatrists had ruled Petty competent to stand trial for the robbery of Hauser.