NEWTON — The sentencing for a former Charles City man convicted of murdering a rural Newton man scheduled for this week has been delayed again.

54-year-old Randy Linderman was found guilty by a Jasper County jury of first-degree murder back in November. Linderman was accused of murdering Jose Berber on March 6th of 2017 in rural Jasper County. A family member found Berber’s body inside his rural Newton home, with an autopsy determining that Berber died of blunt force trauma.

Linderman was scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday in Jasper County District Court, but another continuance was granted on Tuesday by Judge Richard Clogg, with Clogg setting May 20th as the new date for a sentencing hearing. It’s the fourth delay since his conviction.

Linderman’s attorney Christine Branstad on Sunday also filed a motion for a new trial.

When sentenced, Linderman is facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the opportunity for parole.