Prosecutors say the 22-year-old strangled and beat his grandfather, and then - hid his body in the trunk of a car.
Anthony Love Queen wore stripes and shackles as he faced a judge Friday morning. The former Madera High athlete was arrested last month for the murder of his grandfather, 67-year-old Hugh Ward, in March of 2010. Queen had been serving time in a Kern County Prison on unrelated charges for the past year.
Madera Co. District Attorney, Michael Keitz said, "We continued the investigation during that time and then when we were ready we went ahead and had an arrest warrant issued for him."
During this hearing, an identification specialist from the Madera County Sheriff's Office testified about finding blood inside and outside Ward's home after Queen reported him missing. She also spoke about how Ward's body was discovered in the trunk of his car one day later.
Josefina Roderick said, "In the trunk appears to be some bedding and also a deceased person in the back."
A Madera County Deputy testified Queen was caught on surveillance video near where the car was found, despite claiming he was never in that area.
Sgt. Jason Clark said, "To what to degree of certainty are you sure that was Anthony Queen in that video? I'm 100% sure."
Prosecutors also questioned a senior criminalist from the California Department of Justice about blood stains found on a pair of shoes taken from Queen the day of the murder.
Mindy Crow said, "The DNA result obtained from the blood stain on the top of the shoe is a mixture of at least two individuals, the major portion of that mixture is consistent with the victim."
Queen's defense attorney argued the DNA evidence is not conclusive and that his client stayed consistent with his story despite hours of interrogation. But the judge ultimately ruled enough evidence exists for a murder trial.
Anthony Love Queen is scheduled to be back here in court at the end of the month.
