Change of judge granted for accused Montgomery County killer

UPDATE: A judge has been chosen to preside over the trial for accused killer Pablo Serrano, charged with the murders of five people.

Judge Steven Ohmer in the 22nd Judicial Circuit, which covers St. Louis, will take over the case and rule on Serrano’s motion for a change of venue.

ORIGINAL: A man accused of killing five people, including a mid-Missouri man, has been granted a change of judge in his trial.

Pablo Serrano, an illegal immigrant, is accused of killing Randy Nordman, a New Florence man, back in March.

Serrano was on the run from Kansas City, where he allegedly killed four other men.

He was not in the courtroom Wednesday morning when the request was granted.

Wednesday’s ruling means the Missouri Supreme Court will choose a judge for Serrano’s case, and that judge will rule on Serrano’s motion for a change of venue.

Court documents say Serrano wants a venue selected from “communities with diverse populations,” particularly where people will have had “experience with neighbors, coworkers, and other citizens of Hispanic descent.”

The filing says Serrano has a right to a jury selected from a “fair cross-section” of the community. It further cites U.S. Census data in naming Sullivan, McDonald, and Pulaski Counties as those with the highest percentage of Hispanic populations in the state. The filing also claims Jackson, St. Louis, Clay, and St. Louis City as the counties which would provide “the greatest opportunity for jurors to have had contact with Hispanics or Latinos.”

No timetable has been announced for when the new judge would be chosen.