Murder trial delayed

Published 8:10 pm Sunday, September 15, 2013

McGhee, left, and Lambeth face murder charges.

McGhee, left, and Lambeth face murder charges.

 The two Alabama men accused of the Nov. 6, 2012 shooting death of a Florida lottery store owner have had their trial date pushed back, according to records from the Escambia County (Fla.) Circuit Clerk’s office.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in the murder trial of Malcolm Troy McGhee Jr. and Brent Dewayne Lambeth for charges they shot and killed 74-year-old Thomas Gerald Kroll during an attempted robbery of the O’Yes Lotto store, which Kroll owned and operated on Highway 97, just south of the Alabama state line.

According to court records, a continuance was granted by Judge Linda Nobles. McGhee is now scheduled to next appear before Nobles Wednesday, Oct. 30. Lambeth’s next court date has not yet been made available in court records. Both men face charges of premeditated murder in the first degree and robbery with a firearm or other deadly weapon.

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According to investigators, McGhee and Lambeth shot Kroll while attempting to rob his store of spice, or synthetic marijuana, which they had previously purchased at that location. Spice is legal in Florida, but illegal in Alabama, where both men were arrested within days of the crime.

McGhee and Lambeth each entered a standard automatic plea of not guilty in December.

Both men remain detained at the Pensacola Jail on no bond.