The murder trial of a Vian man accused of the stabbing death of his father was recently continued and will be placed on the fall jury docket.

Schuyler "Woody" Scarborough, 39, was scheduled to represent himself at trial Monday. After prosecutors filed a motion to amend conflicting information from Scarborough's preliminary hearing regarding the date the murder occurred, Associate District Judge A.J. Henshaw continued the case to the fall jury docket, which is expected to be September, Jeff Sheridan, Sequoyah County assistant district attorney, said. The hearing to amend the information is set for May 7.

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

Sheridan said there was conflicting testimony at Scarborough's preliminary hearing from an investigator and a sheriff's deputy as to the date of the stabbing. A witness will testify at the May 7 hearing to verify the date of May 31. Sheridan explained the discrepancies came after an investigator told the court that he had done testing on June 1. Sheridan said the stabbing occurred in the very late hours of May 31.

Sheridan said he also plans to file a motion to determine Scarborough's competency to decide whether Scarborough can represent himself at trial and participate in the trial effectively.

Scarborough was originally represented by Sallisaw attorney Monte Johnson through the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (OIDS), but Scarborough refused Johnson's help and requested to be allowed to represent himself and that Johnson be taken off the case, 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 asked for the case to be continued to the next docket earlier in the month, but Judge Henshaw did not grant his request, and moved the case to the end of April to allow Scarborough more time to prepare for trial.

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.

A witness told police that Woody and Chester Scarborough began arguing on the front porch over Woody Scarborough's dog, and continued the dispute inside the home. 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.