A 70-year-old Iowa man, who was arrested in August 2006 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a St. James woman, appeared in court Monday for a motion hearing.

Also charged with armed criminal action, Pantaleone S. Salinas, arrested when he was 68 years old, pleaded innocent to the charges and is scheduled to stand trial in September.

Salinas was arrested and extradited from Ames, Iowa, within a few days after the body of St. James resident Renee A. Zeman, 63, was found in her bathroom by her son at her home in the 15000 block of County Road 4110.

A St. Louis medical examiner ascertained homicide was the cause of Zeman’s death, having been stabbed in the throat.

In court Monday, Public Defender Chad Thomas Picker filed a motion with the court on Salinas’ behalf requesting the court to suppress, or exclude, some of the evidence Special Prosecutor Kevin Michael Zoellner intends to present to the jury in Salinas’ trial.

After hearing opposing arguments from Picker and Zoellner, Circuit Judge Tracy L. Storie requested them to file a brief, or a summary, with the court by July 10, which outlined their arguments and any prior case history. Storie said he would reply to the briefs by July 20.

According to a Probable Cause Statement filed with the court before Salinas was arrested (one of the items Salinas’ defense counsel is seeking to suppress) the statement, a short synopsis of the investigation led by Phelps County Detective Sgt. Andy Davis, Salinas and Zeman were “. . . experiencing difficulties stemming from the break-up after a long-term relationship.”

Picker asked the court to suppress the Probable Cause Statement because it contained erroneous information, such as “. . . Salinas . . . was observed at Miss Zeman’s residence;” “. . . she had been dead for at least 24 hours;” and that the term “blood spot” was misleading.

Moreover, Picker alleged, “This case was built around police misconduct. They did not have probable cause for a warrant.”

Picker also alleged the evidence collected at Salinas’ home in Ames was illegally attained. He said all the evidence detectives collected after Salinas’ arrest should be excluded from the trial.

Zoellner requested the court to deny the motion to suppress evidence for several reasons — the Probable Cause Statement, although it lacked some information, “No intentional, nor gross, disregard for the truth can be found.” He said information attained at the beginning of the homicide investigation was subject to change as more evidence accrued.

Furthermore, Zoellner told the court, evidence collected at Salinas’ home after his arrest was attained legally, with a valid search warrant.

The two witnesses called to testify at the hearing included Davis, who answered questions about his preliminary investigation, and Ames Police Officer Blake Marshall, who assisted in the arrest of Salinas in Iowa.

Although Salinas was granted a change of venue, a jury from Platte County will be selected and transported to the 25th Judicial Circuit Court at the Phelps County Courthouse in Rolla to hear the trial, which begins at 9 a.m. Sept. 17.