Cases against stabbing suspect moving forward

A Mayetta resident accused of the November stabbing death of a Mayetta woman will enter a plea on that and five other charges in March after Jackson County District Court Judge Norbert Marek bound him over for trial.

During a preliminary hearing held Monday for Wilson R. Noriega, 49, Marek said there was sufficient evidence to continue three cases against Noriega that are being tried simultaneously. The three cases include incidents that occurred between July and December of last year.

As a result, Noriega, who is being represented by Holton attorneys J. Richard Lake and Alexandria Morrissey, will enter pleas to the charges against him during an arraignment hearing set for Friday, March 11. Noriega is currently being held at the Jackson County Detention Center on $1 million bond.

The most severe of the charges against Noriega is a first-degree murder charge that stems from the Nov. 21 stabbing death of Leanne M. Sanchez, 49,  at a residence reportedly owned by Noriega's parents on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation. In addition to the murder charge, Noriega also faces charges of possession of methamphetamines and possession of drug paraphernalia in this matter.

A second case in the three involves possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia charges that reportedly stemmed from an incident that reportedly occurred last July. The third and most recently filed case involves charges of trafficking in contraband in a correctional facility, criminal use of weapons and criminal damage to property related to an incident that allegedly occurred in December at the detention center.