LYNDON, Kan. (AP) — The trial of a Kansas man accused of beheading a man with a guitar string will not be moved out of Osage County.

An Osage County judge on Tuesday rejected a request from 30-year-old James Paul Harris to move his trial to another county outside the Topeka news coverage area.

Harris is accused of garroting 49-year-old James Gerety, of Topeka, in March or April of 2011. Prosecutors allege Harris kept Gerety’s head for months for some type of religious practice. The skull was found in March 2012 in rural Osage County on land where Harris’ father lived.

Harris’ attorneys argued he could not get a fair trial because of publicity of the homicide.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Harris’ trial will start Dec. 1 in Osage County.