The former Eastern Michigan University employee accused of stabbing his wife to death in their Pittsfield Township home will return to court for a preliminary exam next month.
Jean-Pierre Trias
Courtesy of the WCSO
Jean-Pierre Trias, 44, is charged with one count of open murder for allegedly killing Katherine Porter, 53, earlier this month. According to police, Trias stabbed Porter multiple times. She was discovered dead in the couple’s home in the 4700 block of Hickory Pointe Boulevard on the afternoon of Jan. 11 after police were called to check on Porter.
Trias was in the 14A-1 District Court in Pittsfield Township Tuesday morning for a preliminary exam. However, that hearing was adjourned until 10:30 a.m. Feb. 19, when testimony in the case is expected.
Trias is being held in the Washtenaw County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces a maximum of life in prison.
He is a former part-time lecturer/adjunct faculty member at EMU, where he worked from September 2003 until Dec. 31 in the mathematics department. He taught off and on, depending on the semester, according to EMU officials. He also held a part-time position as a coordinator of math tutoring and testing services and was a graduate assistant.
Katherine Porter
File photo
Porter worked for 13 years at Advantage Computing Systems as a senior systems analyst. A local memorial service was held for her in Ypsilanti on Saturday and her funeral will be held in her hometown of Canton, Conn., on Jan. 26, according to her obituary.
Police have not said whether there was a history of domestic violence between Trias and Porter, who had been married since August 1995, according to court records. In Nov. 2010, Trias filed for divorce but the couple reconciled soon after and the case was dismissed at their request.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.