Attorneys Prepare for Upcoming May Trial in Holly Cantrell Murder Case

Cody Ketchum

MCALESTER, Okla. –

The man charged with killing Holly Cantrell six years ago was in court Tuesday, before his murder trial that is scheduled for May.

Cody Ketchum also faces a charge for destroying evidence.

Related Story: Suspect Arrested In 2017 Homicide Case Of Holly Cantrell

Prosecutors said with a total of four agencies working this case over the years, it has been difficult to track down everything they need for the trial.

Prosecutors said they are still sifting through documents, recordings and notes. On Tuesday in court, prosecutors said they found some evidence that has not been processed yet.

Holly Cantrell went missing in 2017, after she left the McAlester Hospital on her lunch break. A month later her purse was found, and her remains a year after that. Cody Ketchum was arrested last fall.

At the Pittsburg County Courthouse Tuesday, prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office said they just tracked down some evidence in the last few days.

Prosecutors said an agent with the state Attorney General’s office, who is no longer working for that office, submitted a lot of evidence for testing, but two things never made it to the lab.

That evidence, prosecutors said, includes paperwork found in Cantrell’s purse, including some relating to her pregnancy.

Prosecutors are asking OSBI to test that paperwork for fingerprints and said it could take a month, which would be near the beginning of the trial.

Defense attorney Brecken Wagner had this to say about Ketchum on Tuesday. “My client, is, I said it today, I used the word, ‘railroaded.’ I’m watching a railroading happen. This is what it looks like. And when we get to court we’ll show that,” Wagner said.

As of now, the trial is set to begin May 1.