ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- A judge has denied a defense request to move the retrial of a Sioux County murder case to another county.
District Judge Jeffrey Neary ruled Friday that he was aware of publicity that accompanied Gregg Winterfeld's first trial and the decision to grant him a new trial, but no evidence pertaining to the media coverage was entered into the official record for him to consider.
"There is no evidence at this time to suggest that (Winterfeld) will not receive a fair and impartial trial with the upcoming retrial of this matter," Neary said in his ruling, filed after a Friday hearing in Sioux County District Court.
Winterfeld remains scheduled to stand trial Oct. 5 on a charge of second-degree murder for the May 9, 2020, shooting death of Grant Wilson.
In June, Neary granted Winterfeld a new trial because of an error made while choosing the jury for his first trial, which ended in April with a jury finding him guilty of second-degree murder. Winterfeld, 71, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, had been charged with first-degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge.
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Defense attorney Brendan Kelly had filed a request for a change of venue in July.
Winterfeld is charged with shooting Wilson, 58, of Cleghorn, Iowa, at a rural Ireton, Iowa, house. Sheriff's deputies who arrived at the scene found Wilson dead inside the house. A woman inside the house at the time of the shooting was not harmed. According to court documents, Winterfeld and Wilson were arguing when Winterfeld pulled out a Ruger .22-caliber revolver and shot Wilson in the forehead.
The three in the house had been drinking beer and whisky throughout the day prior to the shooting, court documents said.
Kelly has filed notices of defense that Winterfeld acted in self-defense and was intoxicated.