A Vian man accused of the stabbing death of his father will have more time to prepare his defense after his trial was recently continued to April 26.

Schuyler "Woody" Scarborough, 39, was scheduled to go to trial Monday, but prosecutors requested the case be delayed in order to endorse additional witnesses.

Scarborough is charged with the May 31 first-degree murder of his father, Chester Scarborough.

Police found Chester Scarborough lying in a pool of blood in the living room of his Vian home, and blood splatters were found along the walls of the living room, court records state.

Jeff Sheridan, Sequoyah County assistant district attorney, said Scarborough asked for the case to be continued to the next docket. Associate District Judge A.J. Henshaw did not grant Scarborough's request, and moved the case to the end of April to allow Scarborough more time to prepare since he is representing himself.

Scarborough was originally represented by Sallisaw attorney Monte Johnson through the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS), but Scarborough refused Johnson's help and requested that Johnson be taken off the case and Scarborough be allowed to represent himself, according to handwritten motions filed in district court. Johnson is now Scarborough's standby council in case he has legal questions during the trial, according to court records.

Scarborough filed handwritten motions last week claiming he has been denied access to the law library and the library's computer.

A witness told police that Woody and Chester Scarborough started arguing on the front porch over Woody Scarborough's dog, and the altercation continued inside. Another witness reported seeing Woody Scarborough push the elder Scarborough down at the doorway of the residence. When the witness stopped to help Chester Scarborough, he opened the screen door to the residence and saw Woody Scarborough standing over his father and striking him around the head, court records state.

Woody Scarborough was located several days later at an apartment in Vian. He allegedly told Vian police that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the stabbing, and he did not know that his father was dead until he heard it on the news.

Woody Scarborough has five prior convictions. The convictions include second-degree murder on Feb. 3, 1988; uttering a forged instrument on Aug. 20, 1995; feloniously pointing and felonious possession of a firearm on Feb. 15, 2000; and first-degree burglary on Oct. 20, 2000, court records show.