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Suspect in murder of Andre Gray learns he will stand trial, gets married

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man accused of murdering a man who disappeared in 2014 learned Friday that he will stand trial on a homicide charge, and got married.

A judge held all but one charge of animal cruelty against Hubert Wingate, of Homewood, during a preliminary hearing.

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Wingate is suspected in the murder of his former friend Andre Gray, whose body was found in the Ohio River near Wheeling, West Virginia, in March. Gray went missing from his Lawrenceville home in October 2014.

Gray's family wore red in solidarity to Friday's hearing, during which Eric Crawford, a key prosecution witness, testified.

Crawford testified that on the night Wingate and a friend showed up at his home, he thought they were going to beat someone up. Instead, he said Wingate pulled Gray's body wrapped in sheets from a vehicle's trunk, threw his body in the river and stabbed it 10 times because it wouldn't sink.

The defense entered into evidence a photo of a third man holding the murder weapon. Wingate's attorney believes the man in the photo, who has not been charged, is Gray's killer.

Less than two hours after the hearing, Wingate married his long-time fiancée in a private ceremony before heading back to jail.

"I would say he's on an emotional roller-coaster. I'd say getting married is giving him some stability," said Wendy Williams, Wingate's attorney. "The wedding was planned prior to the homicide hearing being set for today."

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