A HEARING has taken place today for a man accused of murdering a woman who disappeared in 1984.
William Hodge, 78, is alleged to have killed Marion Hodge, then 34, in Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway.
Court papers state Hodge caused Marion an injury by ‘means unknown to the prosecutor’.
Hodge faces a separate charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of Marion’s body and personal effects.
The mother-of-two was declared legally dead by the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 1992.
A virtual hearing took place today at the High Court in Glasgow.
No plea was entered on Hodge’s behalf by his defence counsel Michael Anderson KC who stated that he took over the case last week.
The advocate told the court that there are difficulties obtaining a second psychological report on Hodge who resides at a care home in Bristol.
It was revealed that Hodge was not arrested nor appeared in a private petition hearing for the case.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said: “The reason he did not appear on petition was due to advice on his physical condition. He would be arrested and brought to Scotland and we thought that this was not right in this case.
“The Crown has not taken any steps to have him psychologically examined due to instructions from his former senior counsel who had everything in hand. We will do anything we can to assist in trying to instruct someone.
“I ask for the trial date to be reserved for March next year as we would have a timetable to work towards. I suspect that it will become an examination of facts rather than a trial.”
A six-day trial date was reserved for March next year.
A further hearing was set for July before Judge Lord Mulholland.
