CARNESVILLE - A Franklin County man charged in the 2013 death of his fiancee is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 28.
Brent Shubert is charged in the death of his girlfriend, 33-year-old Bonny Anne Cooner of Carnesville, who went missing in January 2013.
Cooner's body was found in an abandoned well about three miles from her home in Canon, and an autopsy by the GBI revealed she died of strangulation and blunt force trauma to her head.
Cooner lived with Shubert and her 12-year-old son.
Shubert was indicted by the March 2013 term of the Franklin County Grand Jury on the charges of malice murder, felony murder, and concealing the death of another, said Franklin County Chief Deputy/Investigator Jimmy LeCroy.
LeCroy said Shubert has agreed to a bench trial before a judge, saving the county the expense of a jury trial.
"It would have cost the county at least $300,000 just to get through the jury part of it," LeCroy said.
Since Shubert agreed to the bench trial, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against him.
The case already has been time-consuming for prosecutors.
"We've been holding hearings on it all year," LeCroy said.
In fact, hearings on defense motions 54-59 were scheduled to be heard Friday, LeCroy said.
LeCroy said Shubert continues to be held in the Banks County Detention Center. He estimates the trial will take about a week due to "multiple witnesses, evidence and so forth".
