Accused killer Shawn Smoot's trial has been reset from next week to July.
Judge Jeff Wicks, the defense and prosecution agreed to the postponement in order to "permit the development of additional testimony and proof" at several court hearings planned in May and June, according to a court order the judge signed Thursday.
Smoot is charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 death of 23-year-old Brooke Morris. Investigators allege he shot her several times and dumped her body along a Roane County road.
Smoot has been in and out of jail since his arrest.
His murder trial was supposed to start March 29 in Roane County.
Because both sides agreed for the need for some additional hearings, it will be delayed to July 25, according to District Attorney General Russell Johnson.
Wicks will preside over hearings May 17 and 18 in Loudon County and June 21 in Roane County, according to the court's order.
Prosecutors and defense attorney Robert L. Jolley appeared Wednesday in Wicks' court.
After indictment in 2012, Smoot failed to turn himself in promptly. Authorities tracked him to Mississippi. A judge later released him on bond.
Two years later, officials arrested Smoot in McMinn County for DUI. Again, he was released on bond.
A month later, U.S. marshals found Smoot in a mental hospital in Chattanooga.
The former businessman has switched attorneys several times.
