BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) - A judge has set a new trial date for a man accused of killing a Peru State College student.

The judge scheduled the trial of 38-year-old Joshua Keadle to begin Jan. 27. Keadle's attorney had asked for more time to prepare. On Friday the judge eliminated the Sept. 16 trial start and set the new date Monday.

Keadle has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the disappearance and presumed death of a 19-year-old Tyler "Ty" Thomas. Thomas disappeared Dec. 3, 2010, after leaving a party near the southeast Nebraska campus. The state issued a death certificate for Thomas in 2013, even though her body has never been found.

Keadle is serving a 15- to 20-year prison sentence for the 2008 rape of a 15-year-old girl.

His murder trial has been moved to Gage County from Nemaha County.