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Man accused of killing his stepdaughter appears in court for pre-trial

Wesley Hadsell will be back in court for a jury trial at the end of February for allegedly killing his 18-year-old stepdaughter in 2015.

SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. — Before his jury trial in February, Wesley Hadsell appeared in court for a pre-trial on Monday. Hadsell is charged with the 2015 murder of his 18-year-old stepdaughter Anjelica 'AJ' Hadsell.

Investigators found her body on April 9, 2015.

The medical examiner's office determined she died from acute heroin poisoning.

Wesley wasn't indicted until November of 2018 on charges of first-degree murder, non-capital murder, and felony concealment of a dead body. He pleaded not guilty to the crime in February of 2019.

Hadsell is already in prison serving a 10-year sentence for an unrelated federal ammunition charge that dates back to 2013.  

RELATED: Man accused of killing stepdaughter back in court on drug charges

During the pre-trial, Hadsell's attorney James Ellenson tried to remove evidence from being used in the trial, claiming it was false.

"Wesley went through certain items that were in the search warrant that were untrue," Ellenson said. 

The judge ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to prove Hadsell's case.

RELATED: Wesley Hadsell pleads not guilty in murder of stepdaughter

RELATED: Wesley Hadsell charged with murder of stepdaughter, AJ Hadsell

Last week, a judge also ruled that Governor Ralph Northam will testify during the trial.

"[Northam] was [Anjelica 'AJ' Hadsell's] treating physician at the time of her death. There was some issues of how she died and reason for the death," Ellenson said. "We just need to get all the facts out of it."

Hadsell will be back in court for a trial at the end of February.

RELATED: Wesley Hadsell re-sentenced to 10 years for possession of ammunition

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RELATED: Court documents: GPS data from stepfather's van led to AJ Hadsell's body

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