Change Of Venue Request Granted In Gruesome Death Case

A Judge has granted a change of venue request by the defense team of James Phelps, the man accused of a gruesome murder in Dallas County in July of 2021. Phelps’s trial will be moved to Jasper County, as his attorneys and the Dallas County Prosecutor agreed last Friday. The 60-year-old Phelps is facing charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, and abandonment of a corpse in connection with the death of Cassidy Rainwater. Timothy Norton, Phelps’ co-defendant, is also facing the same charges. The two were arrested in September 2021 after authorities received an anonymous tip with photos of Rainwater in a cage on Phelps’ property. Court documents reveal that investigators found Rainwater’s remains in a deep freezer on Phelps’ property, labeled with her last known day of being alive, July 24.

After his arrest, Phelps’ home was later burned down, and investigators deemed it arson. Phelps is scheduled for a case management conference in court on May 19th in Dallas County.