The murder trial of a Jonesboro man accused of shooting two former high-school friends at a home in north Fayette in 2003 has been postponed.

Although defense attorneys for William Edward "Eddie" Robbins won the continuance of the case Tuesday, they were dealt a blow when Fayette Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English ruled that a key piece of evidence could be admitted at the trial.

Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan, chief detective of the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, testified Tuesday that Robbins nodded affirmatively when Jordan asked him if he killed David Mangham and Francis Michael Fowler in self-defense at Mangham's north Fayette home. At that very moment, Robbins was not a suspect even though detectives were searching the home he lived in with his wife and in-laws, Jordan said.

Evidence of the question and Robbins' response can be admitted during the trial because he was not in custody at the time, English ruled.

Jordan said when he asked Robbins the question, he was the only officer present, so he quickly summoned another detective to witness the response, and asked the same question again.

Robbins then said, "I'm just not going to answer that question," Jordan testified.

The search was consented to without a warrant, and at the time Robbins was not a suspect in the case, Jordan said. But after nodding yes to the self-defense question, Jordan told Robbins that he was at that instant being considered a suspect in the murder investigation.

Mangham and Fowler were found dead April 22, 2003, in Mangham's home in the Princeton Chase subdivision in north Fayette County off Ga. Highway 314. Both had been shot, and Mangham's gun was found a short distance from his body, leading police to believe that he might have been trying to defend himself from an intruder, officials said.

Fowler, who lived in Ellenwood in neighboring Clayton County, often helped Mangham restore classic autos in a garage separate from the home, police said.

The trial was due to begin Tuesday, but Robbins's attorneys asked for the continuance based on several key pieces of evidence that were not provided until a few days before the trial, in apparent violation of Georgia discovery rules that all evidence in the case must be provided to defense attorneys at least 10 days before trial.

English said he was not blaming any of the parties involved, but he felt there was no choice but to postpone the trial to give Robbins's attorneys the chance to review the evidence and re-interview witnesses.

Assistant District Attorney Al Dixon noted that most all of the evidence in question was mentioned in documents that were provided to defense attorneys before the 10-day deadline.

Among the evidence provided after that deadline were videotapes of Robbins's two sons being interrogated by police. The sound quality on one of the tapes was very poor, and English said Robbins's attorneys should be allowed the time to interview the police officer who was present during those interviews to try and determine what else was said that wasn't included in the officer's written report and could not be discerned on the tape.