Hickory man withdraws guilty plea in wife’s beating death

A judge has granted a Hickory man’s request to withdraw his guilty plea in his wife’s beating death, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Marvin Antonio Hill, 39, agreed in October to plead guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Louver Hill, 36, the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office said.

An autopsy showed Louver Hill died of blunt force trauma in the couple’s home on Miami Street in October 2013, prosecutors said.

Marvin Hill filed a motion last month to have his plea withdrawn. He claimed he was confused by the agreement he signed and that his attorney at the time told him the plea was his “only option,” prosecutors said.

Hill was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, but Judge Richard Boner instead granted Hill’s request to have the plea withdrawn.

Boner ruled that Hill will stand trial on the original first-degree murder charge. The trial is tentatively set for Feb. 22, prosecutors said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Hickory man withdraws guilty plea in wife’s beating death."