PUEBLO, Colo.—An August hearing has been scheduled to determine whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with a trial for the Pueblo West man accused of raping and killing his 14-year-old neighbor.
Sixty-four-year-old Paul Wayne Stark appeared in a Pueblo County courtroom for a pretrial hearing Wednesday. Stark is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and sexual assault on a child in the March 29 death of Ashley Patterson.
The girl’s partially nude body was found inside a trash bag in a field near her home. Her hands were tied behind her back, and another plastic bag was over her head.
An autopsy revealed she died of suffocation and/or strangulation.
Stark is being held at Pueblo County jail on $1 million bail.
