SAN DIEGO -- Richard Tuite, the man accused in the 1998 stabbing death of Stephanie Crowe, pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of murder and his trial was assigned to a judge.

Tuite (pictured, right), 33, faces 27 years to life in prison if convicted.

Judge Peter Deddeh assigned Tuite's trial to Superior Court Judge Frederic Link and set a status conference for March 26.

A trial date was tentatively set for May 6, but defense attorney Brad Patton told Deddeh that he would need more time to prepare, and that Tuite agreed.

"He's interested in moving this case along," Patton said of his client.

Earlier, Patton said a trial could start in mid-to-late summer and take two months to complete.

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After a monthlong preliminary hearing, a judge ruled there was probable cause to believe that Tuite killed the 12-year-old girl in her bedroom more than five years ago.

The seventh-grader's body was found by family members the morning of Jan. 21, 1998. She had been stabbed nine times.

Patton and attorney William Fletcher presented evidence at the preliminary hearing that they say points to Joshua Treadway, Aaron Houser and the victim's older brother, Michael, as her killers.

The three originally were charged with Stephanie's murder. But charges were dropped in 1999 when a DNA test revealed the victim's blood on a red shirt Tuite wore the night of the killing.

The case was turned over to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the state Attorney General's Office three years ago.

Prosecutors put on evidence that they said showed two police interrogations of Treadway, now 20, were coerced and therefore unreliable.

Special Assistant Attorney General David Druliner said Escondido police investigators made "multiple assumptions" early on in the case, making it "theory-driven" as opposed to "evidence-driven."

Druliner said Tuite, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was seen in the area of the Crowe home the night before Stephanie's body was discovered.

Tuite, who is being held without bail.