Couple charged in NC death will be tried together

KINSTON, N.C. (AP) — A man and wife charged in the death of a Kinston woman whose dismembered body was found in Texas will be tried together.

A judge ruled Friday that 33-year-old Grant Ruffin Hayes III and his wife, 40-year-old Amanda Hayes, go on trial together later this year.

The Hayeses are charged with first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Laura Ackerson, who had two children with Grant Hayes.

Parts of Ackerson's body were found in July 2011 in a creek in Fort Bend County, Texas. Investigators have said they think Ackerson was slain in North Carolina before her killers hauled her dismembered body in coolers to Texas for disposal.