Matthew Church during his arraignment in September at Haverhill District Court.
A pre-trial hearing has been postponed for a Georgetown man, accused of abusing his wife who later died.
Matthew Church, 33, of Georgetown, was scheduled to appear for a hearing Tuesday in Haverhill District Court on a charge of assault and battery on a household member. The hearing was rescheduled to Dec. 29, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
“The pre-trial conference was postponed to Dec. 29 (because) the defense attorney was not available,” Kimball-Monahan told WHAV.
Church has been held without bail since his Sept. 1 arrest by Georgetown police, sparked after Church made a call to his probation officer. According to Essex Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella, Church reported the victim, later identified as Kate Elizabeth (Lampron) Church, 31, fell and hit her chin on a sink after she had been drinking. However, police found the victim was not under the influence but did suffer other bruises to her arms, legs and back. Police found the victim dead during a return call. His last court appearance was the conclusion of a dangerousness hearing Nov. 2.
Kimball-Monahan did not release autopsy findings requested by WHAV. Those findings were to be the basis of possible upgraded charges, Faitella said. “The charges have not changed,” Kimball-Monahan said.
Prior to his arrest, Church had been on probation in connection with an alleged assault case last April out of Gloucester, which in May was continued without a finding for 15 months. The couple had recently moved to Georgetown. According to Kimball-Monahan, Church violated a probation order to not abuse the victim and to enter a batterer’s intervention program.