BHUBANESHWAR, India - The trial in the murder of an Australian missionary and his young sons was adjourned Tuesday until next month after a series of hearings had to be postponed because defense lawyers were absent, court officials said.
Fourteen men are being tried on charges of burning to death Graham Stewart Staines, an Australian Christian missionary, and his sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8, as they slept inside their vehicle outside a church in eastern Orissa state on Jan. 23, 1999.
The trial has made slow progress since it began in March 2001. Only 27 of the approximately 100 prosecution witnesses have testified before the special court in Bhubaneshwar, the state capital.
Of the six days when hearings were scheduled this month, the trial was held only on April 15, as defense lawyers were absent on the remaining days. On Tuesday, defense attorney Gyan Acharya was absent.
The remote, tribal-dominated Manoharpur village where the deaths occurred is in the Keonjhar district, 235 kilometers (146 miles) north of Bhubaneshwar.
Judge Mahendranath Patnaik set the next round of hearings for May 3-9.