Man charged in 2000 Columbia murder case to be in court for counsel status hearing

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man charged in connection with a 26-year-old Columbia murder case is set to be in a Boone County Courtroom Friday afternoon.

Sentrell Wilson, 45, of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, is charged with first-degree murder for the 2000 death of University of Missouri student Candace Richie. Wilson was arrested in South Carolina earlier this year on Feb. 23 and was extradited to Boone County in April.

After Wilson's extradition, there has been little progress in the case due to multiple hearings in which Wilson was without counsel. The court appointed a public defender to determine eligibility in June, according to online court documents.

On Friday at 1 p.m., Wilson is expected to be transported to the Boone County Courthouse from the Boone County Jail for a counsel status hearing with Judge Stephanie Morrell.

A joint investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Section and the Columbia Police Department led to Wilson's arrest nearly 26 years after Richie's death.

Police were called to the 2300 block of Whitegate Drive in February 2000 for a death investigation, where they found Richie dead. After receiving the report from the medical examiner's office, police determined the death was a homicide.

CPD interviewed Wilson in 2000, but an arrest was not made at the time due to concerns about the ability to establish a clear medical cause of death.

A bond motion claims Wilson asphyxiated a woman and left her body where it was not found for several days.