SIOUX CITY — The second trial is scheduled to begin Monday of a Sioux City man charged with murder. The trial of 48-year-old Elias Wanatee is to be held in Pottawattamie County District Court in Council Bluffs. A judge had granted Wanatee’s request for a change of venue, citing publicity. Wanatee’s first trial ended in a mistrial in December after jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
Wanatee is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 17, 2016, stabbing death of 50-year-old Vernon Mace in Sioux City. There were no eyewitnesses, and police never found the weapon.
Defense attorney Jason Dunn has suggested that Wanatee acted in self-defense.