The contractor charged with the murder of one of his Clay County customers was in court Thursday but on a separate charge.
Corey Binderim is facing a charge of grand theft by construction fraud in Duval County.
Binderhim was brought in at 9:58 a.m. and both the defense and state agreed to a trial date of May 4. He will be back in court on Feb. 27 for a pretrial case management hearing.
During court, the Clay County murder charge was never discussed.
His fraud charge stems from an incident where police say he allegedly found a check he was to be paid for a contract job he never finished, took it, signed the homeowner's name and cashed it. Police say he was caught on camera in the act.
Binderim was also on law enforcement’s radar for possibly having scammed people who hired him for contracting work in St. John's County. The St. John’s County’s Sheriff’s Office even went as far as to put out a post on Facebook for people to contact them if they’d had any fraudulent incidents with him.
At some point after Thursday's court date, Binderim is expected to be transferred to Clay County to face the murder and tampering with evidence charges associated Susan Mauldin's death.
Police say Mauldin asked Binderim for her money back when he wasn’t finishing the job. She then went missing, and Binderim quickly became a person of interest. On January 21, Mauldin's remains were found in a landfill in Georgia, and he was charged for the murder.
Mauldin's friend Pat Richie tells First Coast News she and some of Mauldin's other friends told police early on that they believed he was responsible for her disappearance.
"We know he did it," Ritchie said. "He was the only one who was involved with her with money, and when she said she would call the police, I think that's what did it. She never should've said, 'I will call the police.' But we're happy, we're happy for her and we hope it wasn't too bad for her."
Binderim's court hearing at the Duval County Courthouse will start at 9 a.m. No word on when he will be transferred to Clay County.