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COLUMBIA, MO. (AP) -- A 33-year-old Sedalia man charged with killing a fellow VA hospital patient in Columbia has made a brief court appearance.

Rudy Perez, Jr., is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 1 death of 78-year-old Robert Hill of Warsaw at Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. His attorney, David Tyson Smith, says Perez is schizophrenic.

Boone County Circuit Judge Deborah Daniels granted Smith's request Monday  to delay a preliminary hearing for Perez until April 4.

Perez was arrested in Sedalia three days before Hill's death after a neighbor said Perez punched him in the face. But he was released from the Pettis County jail 24 hours later without being charged. He now also faces assault charges in that county.

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