Hearing Date Set For Cushing Triple Killing Suspect

Associated Press

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- A preliminary hearing for a Cushing man charged with three counts of first-degree murder has been scheduled for May 18.

Twenty-year-old Chad Lansford Barela appeared in Payne County District Court Monday. He's charged in the Feb. 17 shooting deaths of 19-year-old Elizabeth Hueser, 27-year-old Douglass Peck and 21-year-old Albert Sernas inside a Cushing home.

2/19/2009 Related story: Cushing Man Charged In Triple Homicide

Payne County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty because they believe Barela killed two of the victims to escape prosecution.

A police affidavit indicates Barela confessed to the killings.