Briton US murder trial postponed

Mr Entwistle denies murdering his wife and baby

The trial of a former Nottinghamshire man charged with killing his wife and baby in the US has been postponed.

Neil Entwistle, 28, formally from Worksop, is charged with fatally shooting his wife and nine-month-old daughter in Massachusetts in 2006.

Judge Diane Kottmyer granted more time for DNA and scientific evidence to be examined and changed the trial date from October 2007 to January 2008.

If found guilty, Mr Entwistle faces a life sentence. He denies all charges.

Bail refused

Judge Kottmyer allowed the motion to reschedule the trial date after no objections were raised in the hearing at the Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, US.

Elliott Weinstein, Mr Entwistle's lawyer, requested the delay and cited the need for more time to analyse and evaluate the results of the DNA and other scientific testing.

Prosecutors believe Mr Entwistle shot and killed his wife and daughter in the house that they were renting in Hopkinton on the morning of 20 January 2006 before leaving the US for his parents' home in Worksop the following day.

He was arrested on 9 February at Royal Oak underground station in London and escorted back to America by US Marshalls. He was refused bail.

The trial is now set to start on 28 January 2008.