Steven Rios, ex-cop, is facing a second murder trial in the June 5, 2004, killing of Jesse Valencia, a 23-year-old University of Missouri student who was found with his throat slashed outside his East Campus apartment.

Rios, who was married at the time and had a child, admitted having had a homosexual affair with Valencia but denied killing him. At his sentencing, Rios said prosecutors distorted the evidence against him and that his attorneys were ineffective.

The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District in April ordered Rios’ conviction vacated, citing inadmissible hearsay evidence in the trial testimony of a friend of Valencia. In October, the Missouri Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal of the Western District ruling, setting up a new trial.