FARMINGTON – A tentative trial date of April 7, 2009, has been set for a Kennebec County jury to hear the case against Thomas Mitchell Jr., who was charged in connection with the brutal killing of Judy Flagg of Fayette 25 years ago.

Justice Nancy Mills issued a decision on Nov. 18 denying Mitchell’s motions to dismiss the murder charge, suppress evidence, including fingernail clippings and oral swabs taken from the victim during an autopsy, and shoe cast comparisons taken from the defendant.

Mitchell, 51, formerly of South Portland, was indicted on Sept. 8, 2006, on a charge of intentionally or knowingly murdering the 23-year-old Flagg at her Watson Heights Road home in Fayette on Jan. 6, 1983. She suffered multiple stab wounds to the trunk of her body, according to court documents.

Her husband, Ted Flagg, discovered his wife’s body when he returned home from working a double shift.

Their 1-year-old son, Chad, who was home with his mother, was unhurt.

The house the family was living in once belonged to Mitchell’s father.

At the time of his 2006 indictment, Mitchell was finishing 15 years of a 20-year sentence at state prison on an unrelated rape conviction.

He is being held without bail on the murder charge at the Kennebec County Jail in Augusta. He entered no plea on the charge on Sept. 28, 2006.

Mitchell had challenged the state’s handling of the evidence over the years and submitted a motion to dismiss, arguing that he had been irreversibly and unduly prejudiced by the lengthy pre-indictment delay and his rights of due process had been violated, according to court documents.

Among other challenges, Mitchell argued that the state’s evidence could be corrupted, contaminated or degraded, and the chain of custody was deficient.

The state argued the evidence was preserved and properly cared for and that sophisticated DNA testing was not available until 2000. Once the evidence was analyzed in 2006, and eye-witness testimony confirmed, the state sought an indictment, Mills wrote.

Mills ruled that Mitchell had failed to make the necessary showing with regard to his arguments. A shoe cast that broke in half during evidence storage was reconstructed properly to allow comparison of the casts with the defendant’s footwear, Mills wrote. The court documents indicate casts taken from footprints in the snow outside Flaggs’ home matched the heel of loafers police seized from Mitchell and were the same shoe size.

In 2006, a DNA analyst did testing on the cell pallet made from the oral swab and swabs of the fingernail clippings at the state crime laboratory. An analysis on the fingernail clippings swab showed that the DNA profile matched Mitchell, according to court documents. Analysis on the oral swab showed that he could not be excluded as a contributor to the DNA profile found. Chad Flagg was excluded.

Mills also ruled Nov. 18 that there was no contamination of the evidence, nothing has occurred to render the evidence unreliable and the testing was performed by qualified experts.

Maine Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes said that jury selection is scheduled for April 3 and the trial is tentatively set to begin April 7.

Mitchell’s attorney, Jim Strong, was unavailable for comment on Monday.