Couple to face separate trials in teacher death

ST. JOHNSBURY — Lawyers in the case of a Vermont couple charged with killing a prep school teacher and dumping her body in the Connecticut River are planning for separate trials next year.
Allen Prue and his wife, Patricia Prue, are accused of strangling and beating 33-year-old Melissa Jenkins after luring her out of her house with a ruse about a broken down car in March.
Police say the Waterford couple planned the crime.
Lawyers in a St. Johnsbury courtroom on Friday scheduled Allen Prue’s trial for July. He is charged with first-degree murder.
Patricia Prue’s trial has been scheduled for May. She is charged with aggravated murder.
Both have pleaded not guilty.