Change of venue for one of three accused in 1989 Workman cold case

AVA, Mo. — One of three men accused in the 1989 slaying of a Douglas County woman has seen his case transferred to Phelps County on a change of venue.

Leonard Dwight Banks is next to appear in a Rolla courtroom after his attorneys were granted a change on Tuesday, Aug. 6 in Douglas County.

Banks and two others were charged in Douglas County earlier this year after the 35-year cold case of the death of Kelle Ann Workman resulted in arrests and charges of first-degree murder against all three.

Workman’s body was found in Christan County after she went missing from her job as a caretaker of the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Douglas County on June 30, 1989.

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Also charged are Wiley Belt, who has an Aug. 14 court date in Douglas County, and Banks’ brother Bobby Lee Banks, scheduled for a hearing in Douglas County on Sept. 3.

Leonard Banks remains in custody in the Douglas County Jail. Bobby Lee Banks is being held in the Wright County Jail and Belt is free on bond.

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