A week before the scheduled trial for the man who is accused of setting Danville City Council member Lee Vogler on fire last summer, a plea hearing has been added to the court docket.
Earlier this month, Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes, 30, entered not-guilty pleas to all three charges related to the attack, ahead of a trial scheduled for the week of April 20. He also opted to be tried by a jury, rather than by a judge.
A plea hearing for the case is now scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, according to the Danville Circuit Court website.
The city’s commonwealth’s attorney, Michael Newman, was unavailable for comment Monday, but he told the Danville Register & Bee that an agreement came together quickly Friday afternoon.
Edward Lavado, one of Buck-Hayes’ attorneys, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
In October, Buck-Hayes, 30, was indicted on charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding, and breaking and entering with intent to commit murder while armed with a deadly weapon.
He was arrested and charged on July 30, hours after Vogler was attacked and set on fire.
Vogler was at his workplace that day when a man police later identified as Buck-Hayes entered the office, doused him with a flammable liquid and lit him on fire, according to the Danville Police Department.
He was airlifted to the burn unit at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill immediately after the attack to receive treatment for second- and third-degree burns to more than half of his body.
He was released in October, months earlier than expected, and attended the Oct. 21 city council meeting on his first day back in Danville, which was his first public appearance since the attack.
Vogler has continued physical and occupational therapy since returning to Danville, and he has had a laser surgery to address scarring from the burns. Since he’s been back, Vogler has been attending city council meetings and other local events.
Buck-Hayes told police that he had attacked Vogler — and had planned to kill him — because Vogler had had an affair with his wife. Vogler has said he won’t talk about Buck-Hayes or the alleged motive, citing the ongoing case.
In the months since the attack, the court approved an additional defense attorney and a psychological evaluation of the suspect, who was born in the U.K., that determined he was competent to stand trial.
The maximum sentence for attempted first-degree murder is 10 years in prison, and the maximum sentence for aggravated malicious wounding is 20 years to life, according to Newman.
For the third charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit murder while armed with a deadly weapon, the maximum sentence is also 20 years to life, he said.
