Defendants in a number of capital murder cases -- including the Pinelake nursing home shootings -- fill this afternoon's docket for Moore County Superior Court.

This week's sessions were administrative in nature. It gives both defense and prosecutors "a place in line" for any motions that might need to be heard ahead of trial.

Robert Kenneth Stewart was indicted on eight counts of first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the shooting deaths of seven elderly patients and a nurse at Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Center in Carthage March 29. While his trial date has been set for the first session of Superior County next January, his name appeared on the "admin" calendar for Superior Court today.

Two other suspects, Justin Raynal Cotton, 19, and Martin Devon McMillan, 20, are charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.

The body or Donald Ray Sands, 43, of Aberdeen, was found by Moore County Sheriff's deputies about 10:31 p.m. May 15, 2008. He had been shot to death. The deputies discovered his body in a car near a white mobile home in an area at the end of Gillespie Street, a sandy road, in Addor after receiving a call about a vehicle accident.