Preliminary hearing for suspectin murder of Pocatellowomanset forSept.3,4

One of the suspects in the murder of a Pocatello woman in March appeared in the Bannock County Courthouse Thursday.

Dustin Alfaro, 18, of California, is charged with first-degree murder of Arlyne Koehler.

Koehler, 87, was found murdered in her Pocatello home on March 18.

The defense filed Wednesday a non-objection to the continuance that the state had filed last week.

Both parties met and agreed that they would be moving the preliminary hearings in both cases to Sept. 3 and Sept. 4, for Alfaro, and Sept. 5 and Sept. 6, for Issac Rodriguez Romero, 17, the other murder suspect.

The state had indicated that there may be an issue with one potential witness, but it is still prepared to proceed in a preliminary hearing in September.

The two cases remain separate but will be held back-to-back.

The court says it will be extremely reluctant to agree to prolong the preliminary hearings in either case.

Romero will be brought over on Aug. 1 to state that he does not object to moving his preliminary hearing to the beginning of September.

Bond for the teenagers was set at $1 million. Judge Aaron Thompson is presiding over the trials.

Probable cause documents, containing information regarding the police investigation have been sealed.