Federal Judge Agrees to Delay Wyoming Man’s Double Homicide Trial

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has agreed to delay the trial of a Wyoming man charged with killing a couple on the Crow Indian Reservation in July 2015.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters issued an order Tuesday vacating the Jan. 9 trial date for 19-year-old Jesus Deniz Mendoza of Worland. Defense attorneys said experts would not be available to testify at that time.

Watters set a scheduling conference for Thursday to determine a new trial date.

Mendoza is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Jason and Tana Shane and with attempted murder for wounds suffered by their daughter. The Shanes had stopped to help Mendoza on a road near Pryor.

Mendoza's attorneys have said they will rely on an insanity defense.