SAN DIEGO -- A Jan. 6 preliminary hearing was set Thursday for Richard Tuite, a transient accused of fatally stabbing 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe in her Escondido home in 1998.

Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh assigned the preliminary hearing to Judge Gale Kaneshiro.

The hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to hold the defendant over for trial is expected to last about two weeks, said Supervising Deputy Attorney General Gary Schons.

If Tuite, 33 (pictured, left), is ordered to stand trial, it could get under way as soon as 60 days after the preliminary hearing, Schons said. Tuite's trial could last up to six months, according to the attorneys.

Tuite was charged last May.

Witnesses said they saw the homeless schizophrenic in the area of the Crowe residence in Escondido the night of Jan. 20, 1998. Family members found the seventh-grader's body the next morning.

The victim's 14-year-old brother, Michael, and two friends originally were charged with her murder, after two of them confessed to the killing.

In 1999, a judge ruled that most of the admission was coerced by Escondido police and was thus inadmissible at trial.

DNA retesting revealed three stains of the victim's blood on one sleeve of a sweat shirt Tuite was wearing at the time of the murder.

Authorities had said Tuite was too clumsy, confused and mentally unstable to have committed the crime and left the house without leaving any evidence behind.

At the district attorney's request, Superior Court Judge John Thompson dismissed the case against the boys.

Stephen and Cheryl Crowe filed a federal lawsuit against the county and other agencies, claiming their civil rights were violated because authorities ignored evidence that pointed to Tuite as the killer.

Tuite, who is being held without bail, has a history of drug abuse and mostly nonviolent crimes, authorities said.

The defendant, who was one day from being released from prison when he was charged with Stephanie's murder, faces 27 years to life if convicted.