Dec. trial date in case of slain DC journalist; had been postponed due to defendant's health

WASHINGTON – A Washington, D.C., judge has set a December trial date for a German man charged with killing his elderly wife.

Albrecht Muth was originally scheduled to stand trial beginning Monday, but a judge postponed it because Muth has grown increasingly weak from months of starvation. He remains hospitalized.

Superior Court Judge Russell Canan didn't set a new trial date at a hearing last week. Online court records show he later scheduled the trial for Dec. 2.

It's not clear whether the 48-year-old Muth will be deemed well enough to attend the trial by that point. He is charged in the August 2011 killing of 91-year-old Viola Drath, a German journalist and socialite. He has denied any role in her death.