WAUSEON — Though their client was not present, attorneys for accused murderer James Worley were in Fulton County Common Pleas Court today.

Judge Jeffrey Robinson re-set the jury trial for Worley, 57, of rural Delta for Jan. 16. Worley is charged in the abduction and murder of Sierah Joughin, 20, a University of Toledo student who disappeared July 19 while riding her bicycle on a rural Fulton County road.

Her remains were found in a shallow grave along Fulton County Road 7 three days later, and an autopsy concluded she died from asphyxiation from a plastic bag lodged in her mouth.

Worley, who is being held in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio near Stryker, could receive the death penalty if he is convicted of aggravated murder in the case.

In all, he is charged with two counts each of aggravated murder, murder, abduction, felonious assault, having weapons while under disability, and aggravated robbery; four counts of kidnapping, and one count each of possessing criminal tools, gross abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.

First Published March 7, 2017, 3:34 p.m.