Trial delayed for Columbia man accused of killing ex-wife and mother-in-law

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man accused of killing his ex-wife and her mother will now go to trial in December.

Judge Josh Devine agreed to push back Randall Fox's murder trial to December 8. A pre-trial hearing was set for November 9. Court records show Fox's defense moved to delay the trial after the state disclosed new discovery materials, just a month before the trial was set to start.

Fox, 51, faces two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of tampering with evidence.

Defense attorney Manuel Tatayon wrote in a motion on Friday that prosecutors gave him autopsy results on June 30, along with 260 pages of discovery. Tatayon said he is still waiting on information in the case "regarding additional potential other suspects."

Columbia police believe Fox shot and killed Sarah Fox and her mother, Marcia Hess, at Hess's home in the 1700 block of Ridgemont Drive in 2024. Investigators say they found the two dead inside a basement closet at the home in May after receiving calls that they had not been seen or heard from in several days.

Court documents detail police's search for Sarah Fox and Hess in late May. Police wrote that they got a call from a family member of Sarah Fox and Hess's on May 18 claiming they had not heard from the pair in ten days. Police said Randall Fox was at the Ridgemont Drive house that day. During a search of the house, Fox allegedly said a "bad smell" in the house was coming from some sleeping bags. When an officer asked to look inside the closet the bodies were allegedly found in later, Randall Fox said the objects inside "will fall out if he opens it."

Police said Randall Fox told them in an in-custody interview on May 23 that he didn't know that they were found dead in the basement of the home. The detective noted that they had never told Randall Fox where exactly the bodies were found in the home.