Freeway Shooting Spree Suspect's Trial Set For November
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A prosecutor says a man charged in a series of shootings on and off Interstate 96 in Michigan will stand trial in November.
A pretrial hearing for Raulie Casteel scheduled to be held Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court was adjourned.
Casteel, 43-year-old unemployed geologist, faces 60 charges in the case — including attempted murder, linked to shootings in Commerce Township and in Wixom, about 40 miles northwest of Detroit.
The Oakland Press reports that county Prosecutor Jessica Cooper says the longer time span before the trial will give both the defense and prosecution a chance to get their cases in order.
In a separate but related case, the Michigan attorney general's office is prosecuting Casteel on terrorism, attempted murder and other charges in Livingston County.
Authorities still aren't saying what might have been the motive behind the two-dozen apparently random shootings that took place along a 100-mile I-96 corridor Oct. 16 through Oct. 18, then stopped until Oct. 27 when a man was shot in the backside while driving on I-96 near Fowlerville. He was the only person hurt in the shootings.
Prior to his arrest, Casteel lived with his wife, daughter and in-laws in Wixom. Defense attorneys say he has no criminal history.
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