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A Nevada man accused of killing his estranged wife in July 2009 will stand trial in Pulaski County after a circuit court judge granted change of venue.
Bob Beisly II, 57, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Belinda Beisly, 47, of Richards.
According to court documents, both the prosecutor and defense attorney agreed to the location change.
A second new judge has also been assigned to hear the case. Circuit Judge James R. Bickel recused from the case because of his past contact with Beisly.
The Missouri Supreme Court first assigned the trial to Circuit Judge Gayle L. Crane of Jasper County, but then moved the trial to Pulaski County and appointed retired Circuit Judge Douglas Long Jr. to hear it.
Beisly is being represented by Charles Myers Rogers of Kansas City and Tyce Stuart Smith of Waynesville.
Beisly and another man, Jeremy Maples, 33, are accused of killing Mrs. Beisly, who just days before her death, had received a court date to finalize the couples' divorce. Authorities allege Beisly hired Maples to kill his wife for $10,000.
Mrs. Beisly was found dead of a gunshot wound in her rural Richards home July 15, 2009. Several agencies investigated the case and developed numerous leads in the beginning, but eventually the investigation slowed down and, despite a $10,000 reward offered by Mrs. Beisly's family, the investigation went more than three years before arrests were made.
Beisly was arrested Feb. 8 at his home in Nevada by Vernon County deputies with an arrest warrant. Maples was arrested the next day in rural Cedar County, near El Dorado Springs.
Mrs. Beisly's family has also filed a wrongful death suit against both men.