By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorThe trial of a triple-murder suspect facing the death penalty is scheduled to start Oct. 11, 2016.The date was set during a court hearing held last Thursday and despite objections from the defendant’s lawyers who requested that the trial not start for at least two years.Prosecutors talked briefly about bringing in a jury from outside the area, such as southeast or western Missouri, to hear the case. It’s estimated the trial would last two weeks. The trial will be held in Montgomery County where it was moved on a change of venue.Shawn Kavanagh, 24, of Bellflower, has been charged with stabbing to death three people and critically injuring a fourth person during a Valentine’s Day attack on Feb. 14, 2014, at a home south of Jonesburg.Presiding Judge Wes Dalton was afraid minimal progress would be made if the trial date was scheduled at a later time.“I know how you all operate and how most lawyers operate, and until there is a date out there that will hold your feet to the fire, you have other things you will be working on,” Dalton remarked. “I want you working on this.”Robert E. Steele and Robert Lundt, defense attorneys for Kavanagh, insisted they needed the extra time review the mental health, social and physical history of their client and to interview around 250 people. They also are scheduling Kavanagh to be evaluated by mental health professionals from St. Louis and Boston.“That takes a huge amount of time,” Lundt said.Also at last week’s hearing, Dalton denied a defense motion to suppress statements made by Kavanagh at the time he taken into custody. Warren County Deputy Scott Taylor testified that Kavanagh told him “people inside the home were hurt and they are no longer here” when he responded to the home. Kavanagh’s hands and clothes were covered in blood, police said.A second deputy, Detective Scott Schoenfeld, talked to Kavanagh on multiple occasions after the stabbings and said the suspect provided details on what occurred that evening.Kavanagh’s lawyers argued that deputies failed to advise him of his Miranda rights.Prosecutor Kelly King countered that Kavanagh was aware he could have ended the conversations held with Schoenfeld and requested the presence of legal counsel. Nearly a month after the stabbings, Schoenfeld received a letter from Kavanagh who wanted to talk more about the incident.“He could have had a lawyer if he wanted to,” King stated.Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Kavanagh, who remains held in the Warren County Jail. He has entered a not guilty plea.Kavanagh did not make any comments during the 1 1/2-hour hearing. He acknowledged and smiled at family members as he exited the courtroom.He faces nine felony counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, first-degree domestic assault and first-degree burglary.He is accused of murdering Tara Lynn Fifer, 22, of Montgomery City, and Lexy Vandiver, 29, and her son, Mason Vandiver, 7, both of Jonesburg.He also is charged with critically injuring his estranged wife Jescie Powell Kavanagh, 27.Police said Shawn Kavanagh went to a home in the 26000 block of Humber Road, located off Highway Y, at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2014. Jescie Kavanagh was staying there with Lexy Vandiver, a co-worker at New Florence Care Center, and her two children.After being asked to leave, Shawn Kavanagh went to his car and returned with a knife and began attacking the women and the boy, police allege.Fifer, another co-worker, had stopped by the home to check on Kavanagh shortly before the attack occurred, family members said.Shawn Kavanagh placed a 911 call at 7:51 p.m. and told the dispatcher that he had just stabbed his wife and killed several people.Lexy Vandiver and Fifer were found stabbed to death. Jescie Kavanagh was airlifted to a Columbia hospital. Mason Vandiver, who suffered multiple stab wounds, died four days later at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis.Vandiver’s 18-month-old daughter was found unharmed inside the home.Shawn Kavanagh was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault in January. The couple was married for 10 months before separating three weeks prior to the Valentine’s Day attack, family members said.Shawn Kavanagh