A third jury trial has been set for a Keithsburg man charged with solicitation of murder for hire. A mistrial was declared for 48-year-old Kevin Hockenberry in late November and his first trial ended in a hung jury in late August after the jury foreperson reported to the court that they were “hopelessly deadlocked”.
A pre-trial is now scheduled for Feb. 14 with a new jury trial on the calendar for March 27 in Mercer County Circuit Court.
Hockenberry is accused of trying to pay someone $10,000 to kill former Mercer County State’s Attorney Meeghan Lee. He has been in custody at the Mercer County Jail awaiting trial on a Class 3 felony of sexual relations within families. That charge is in connection with an alleged incident that occurred in April of 2019. He is also facing felony charges in two other cases including perjury and false reporting as well as two misdemeanor counts of violating an order of protection. Bond on the solicitation of murder for hire charge is set at $500,000. Hockenberry remains in custody at the Mercer County Jail.
