KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) -- A Kenosha County judge has rejected a defense request for a change of venue in a cemetery homicide trial.
The attorney for Javier Garcia questioned whether the defendant would get a fair trial because of media coverage of Lisa Mezera's death.
The 26-year-old Kenosha woman was found fatally beaten and partially clothed in a Kenosha County cemetery last August.
A criminal complaint says DNA evidence links the 52-year-old Garcia to the crime.
The Kenosha News says Judge Mary Wagner ruled Wednesday that news reports were not prejudicial to Garcia, who's accused of strangling and beating Mezera. Wagner did not immediately rule on whether allegations that Garcia kidnapped and sexually assaulted another woman more than a decade ago could be brought up at trial. Those charges against Garcia were later dropped.
