A Magee man will be tried March 31 in U.S. District Court in Jackson for the 2003 slaying of a federal witness.

U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate set the trial date Tuesday for Joe Lewis Collins.

Collins, 61, is accused of capital murder in the slaying of Clovis Reed of Canton.

Authorities said the headless and handless corpse of the 51-year-old Reed was found in a wooded area of Simpson County in 2003.

Prosecutors said Reed was killed to prevent her from testifying against two women in a federal embezzlement trial.