The

first of two defendants facing a possible death

penalty for a murder last spring makes his first

appearance in Fayette County Superior Court next

week.

preliminary hearing for Carl Hodge is set for

Monday at 9 a.m. before Judge Christopher

Edwards, according to a spokesman for district

attorney Bill McBroom's office. McBroom will be

prosecuting the case along with assistant DA Tom

Woodward.

Monday's

hearing is a formality of sorts, as an official

reading of the charges is required in a death

penalty case.

McBroom

is seeking the death penalty for Hodge and Glen

Hamilton in connection with the murder of Adolf

Stubbs, whose body was found in a burned sport

utility vehicle in north Fayette County April 1.

Stubbs had a single gunshot wound to his head.

month-long investigation by the Fayette County

Sheriff's Department and state and federal

officials unearthed an alleged drug transaction

gone bad, and authorities now believe all three

men were initially partners whose relationship

dissolved after the transaction, according to

police reports.

Hodge

and Hamilton were arrested May 3 after a group of

people came in a van from New York to visit

another suspect already in custody. Investigators

covered a lot of ground on this case, from

Stubbs' Brooklyn apartment to Orlando.

total of six people were arrested in connection

with the case, with one suspect fleeing to

Jamaica.

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