Trial date set for alleged killer of Iowa gay man

The trial of a man charged in the slaying of a gay man from Waterloo, Iowa, has been set for May 31, according to an order issued Wednesday by a judge in Black Hawk County. Joseph Lawrence, 23, of Cedar Falls, has pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder in last month's beating and stabbing death of Jason Gage. Police say Lawrence admitted hitting Gage, who was openly gay, twice in the head with a beer bottle and stabbing him in the neck with a piece of glass. Lawrence's fiancee told investigators that Gage made sexual advances toward her boyfriend, who was seen with Gage touring several bars in downtown Waterloo the night Gage died. Lawrence, who moved to Cedar Falls from Arizona earlier this year to be with his girlfriend, remains held in the Black Hawk County jail on $1 million bond. (AP)