The preliminary hearing for Leon Markel Winston Jr., 42, accused of causing the death of Darla Lovern Caughman, 62, was continued Wednesday to March 30 in Sequoyah County District Court, Sallisaw.

Special District Judge Dennis Sprouse, who is hearing the preliminary, said Winston’s attorneys are involved in another murder trial which will take place in Muskogee, making them unavailable to continue with the preliminary, and arrangements had to be made for the prosecution’s most recent witness, Iris Dalley, a retired Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) special agent. Dalley investigated Mrs. Caughman’s murder, which occurred on Sept. 27 at Mrs. Caughman’s home, north of Sallisaw on U.S. Highway 59.

Winston is charged with first-degree murder for Mrs. Caughman’s death. His preliminary hearing began March 9, and witnesses so far have been for the prosecution. First Assistant District Attorney John David Luton is presenting the state’s preliminary hearing evidence.

Caughman was found on the morning of Sept. 27, lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom of her home. The state medical examiner reported Caughman was stabbed in the neck and severely beaten. Either injury would have caused her death, the medical examiner reported.

OSBI special agents testified Monday and Tuesday about their investigation of Caughman’s death. In earlier press releases, the OSBI reported DNA tests showed Winston’s blood was found at the scene, and that he had visited Mrs. Caughman’s home on several occasions.

Winston’s attorneys, Gretchen Mosley and John Echols, with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS) said Wednesday they may call witnesses on motions filed to suppress evidence. OIDS attorneys are assigned to cases in which the death penalty has been requested. In the bill of particulars requesting the death penalty, Luton wrote, “The murder of the victim, Darla Caughman, was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel because Leon Markel Winston Jr. stabbed Darla Caughman in the throat and fractured 15 of her ribs through blunt chest trauma….”

Mosely and Echols said Wednesday afternoon they do intend to call defense witnesses. Mrs. Caughman’s daughter, Sandy Caughman, who found her mother’s body along with a healthcare worker who was not able to get Mrs. Caughman to answer the door, has been subpoenaed.

Healthcare workers were at Mrs. Caughman’s home every day to help her care for her disabled son, Darren. He died about six weeks after Mrs. Caughman’s death.