WINFIELD - A Putnam County man accused of killing a woman after she told him not to contact her anymore pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge on Monday morning.
Philip Casto, 34, of Scott Depot, pleaded not guilty in Putnam Circuit Court to the shooting death of Jennifer Evans, 27, who was found dead in her Hurricane-area home in September.
Casto's current trial date is Oct. 31 at 9 a.m. His attorney, David Moye, asked Monday to waive Casto's right to a speedy trial and to push the trial back to January, because of the large volume of evidence and reports in the discovery packet.
Moye said he is also contacting two experts, and Casto's defense depends on the experts getting back to Moye before the trial.
Putnam Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers denied Moye's request to delay the trial on Monday, but said he would revisit the request at a hearing on Sept. 30.
At a preliminary hearing last October, prosecutors presented evidence to Putnam Magistrate Linda Hunt that documented the relationship between Casto and Evans.
The evidence suggested that Evans had asked Casto to cease contact with her, Putnam Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia said at the time.
Surveillance footage captured a silver Honda Civic pulling into the parking area near Evans' home at 4:38 p.m. and leave at 4:54 p.m. on the day of her death. During those 16 minutes, Evans sent a text message to her husband indicating that Casto had visited the home.
According to a criminal complaint, Evans' husband found her body when he returned home around 5:30 p.m. that day.
Police have said Casto bought a .40-caliber Glock handgun from a Hurricane pawn shop the day before Evans was killed.
Casto's wife told police that he and Evans had recently ended an affair. But Evans' husband told police that his wife had been "pursued" by Casto, and she had recently broken off all communication with him.
Casto was captured by Massachusetts police in a shopping mall in Braintree, a suburb of Boston, the day after the shooting.
He is being held without bail at Western Regional Jail in Barboursville.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.