A jury trial of the alleged killer in the presumed death of Sabine Musil-Buehler is postponed until February.
William J. Cumber was charged in 2012 with the second-degree murder of the Anna Maria resident and co-owner and operator of Haley’s Motel, who disappeared on Election Day, Nov. 4, 2008.
The previously scheduled October trial periods were postponed by agreement until Feb. 10 and Feb. 23 during an Oct. 9 hearing on a defense motion to compel documents requested from the state.
Cumber attended the hearing, sitting silently in handcuffs. Judge Charles E. Roberts denied or ruled moot the defense requests for items and documents because the prosecution either did not possess them or they do not exist.
Items sought by the defense include:
A video-recorded 2012 interview of the defendant taken at Charlotte Correction Institution, where Cumber was serving time on an unrelated arson, which did not exist.
Medical, financial and insurance records of Thomas Buehler, which the court determined were given to the assistant public defender to the extent they existed.
Reports prepared by Peter Rampone, a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigator who has retired. He apparently wrote a report supplement not yet provided to the defense. The state cannot locate it, but promised the paper to the defense if it turns up.
A photograph of a boat on Musil-Buehler’s husband’s property, which was not found by the state.
An expert’s written report, which did not exist, according to deposition testimony.
The trial was postponed due to a conflict with the assistant public defender, according to assistant state attorney Art Brown.
Assistant public defender Franklin Roberts is scheduled to try another murder case in October — one that has been on the 12th Circuit Judicial Court docket longer than Cumber’s case.
Previously, the Cumber case was scheduled for an April trial, which was reportedly moved to October at the request of the-then public defender Carolyn Schlemmer, who currently is on medical leave.
MSCO investigators allege Cumber killed Musil-Buehler and buried her remains on Anna Maria Island. The two had been living together in an apartment on Magnolia Avenue.
Cumber pleaded not guilty and is being held in the Manatee County jail without bond. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.