Hearing delayed in murder case

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is on hold for a man accused of raping and murdering Dalene Carlson, a former Bonner County resident.

Jason Ross Gilley’s three-day hearing was set to begin Wednesday, but it was pushed back to an unspecified date, according to the Stockton Record. The newspaper did not report why the hearing was being postponed.

Gilley, 26, is charged with kidnapping, rape and first-degree murder. He is eligible for the death penalty although authorities in California have not announced whether they will seek death.

Carlson, 23, was last seen with Gilley in Stockton, Calif., in early August.

Her disappearance ignited a two-month search that came to a grisly end in October, when Carlson’s body was discovered in a cornfield near Escalon, Calif.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Seth Hoyt is slated to hear the evidence against Gilley and determine if enough exists to justify trying him.