Plea Hearing for Murder Suspect Delayed to November

The Newark man facing murder charges for the death of his girlfriend did not appear before a judge in court Thursday. Instead his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sam Yun, requested that his plea date be delayed.

Jason Otis Monroe, 32, is now expected to enter a plea at his next court date, Nov. 4, more than four months after he was arrested after police found , 25, dead of apparent stab wounds.

Monroe on the 36600 block of Cherry Street with his hands and shirt bloodied, according to Commander Robert Douglas of the Newark Police Department.

It is believed Monroe and Contillo had lived there with their two young children and Monroe's mother. Contillo was found dead of apparent stab wounds inside the home when police arrived just after 11:13 p.m.

Before Thursday, Monroe has appeared in court six times before:

• Monroe first appeared in court on April 29 for arraignment, which was pushed to May 2.
• On May 2, was made by Judge Dennis McLaughlin after Monroe stated he had been taking a variety of antipsychotic drugs, naming Geodon and Abiliify as previous medications. Both are used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information government website. The status of that mental evaluation is unknown, but Deputy District Attorney Andrew Ross has said the evaluation had yet to be released to the District Attorney’s office and is only released when the results are relevant.
• On May 4, Monroe appeared in court with Public Defender Kristen McCannon. He then after making dramatic statements in which he claimed his children were “caught in the middle of something horrific.” McLaughlin scheduled another court date so that he could evaluate whether Monroe would be allowed to represent himself.
• On May 6, Monroe himself and McLaughlin accepted Monroe’s request to be represented by a public defender.
• On May 18, Monroe , and a plea was scheduled for June.
• On June 23, the plea hearing was again delayed to Sept. 1.

Monroe remains in custody on no bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.