The trial of Dennis Tetso, the Rosedale man accused of the first-degree murder of his wife, Tracey — who was reported missing on her way to a Motley Crue concert four years ago —  will take place next year, a judge ordered today.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Patrick Cavanaugh reserved Aug. 17 and 18 for motions in the case, and three weeks beginning Oct. 6 for the trial.

“It’s a totally circumstantial case,” said Tetso’s attorney, David Irwin. “They (prosecutors) have a lot of witnesses they’re trying to get together.”

Tetso was charged in June with murdering his wife days after officers investigating the cold case served a search warrant on Tetso’s Rosedale property, measuring the car in which Tracey Tetso was traveling the night of her disappearance in March 2005.
 
At the time of her disappearance, Tracey Tetso had been dating another man and had filed for divorce.

Irwin said the measurements were apparently an attempt to match the car to the image on a surveillance video taken March 6, 2005, at the parking lot of a Days Inn in Glen Burnie.

On the video, a male figure is seen driving the car, a Pontiac Trans-Am, into the parking lot, then getting out and walking from the vehicle, police said.

The car was found at a Days Inn hotel parking lot in the 6600 block of Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie, 10 days later, after Tracey Tetso disappeared.

Police and prosecutors said they have mainly “circumstantial evidence” against the 44-year-old Tetso — a statement Irwin said bolsters his client’s case.

“They have no witnesses, no confession and no evidence,” Irwin said.

The arrest of Tetso marked a major development in a case that has stood as an area mystery for years.

After Tracey went missing four years ago, Dennis Tetso said in an interview with the Northeast Booster, “For the record, I love her with all my heart.”

Police said that at the time of his wife’s disappearance, Dennis Tetso told officers that Tracey had left for a Motley Crue concert in Washington in her black, 1996 Pontiac Trans-Am and never returned.

Four years ago, Tracey’s boyfriend, Christian Sinnott, told the Booster that she was supposed to meet him at the concert. She never arrived.

Her car was later found at the Glen Burnie hotel.

A Baltimore County police spokesman, Cpl. Mike Hill, said investigators in the cold case squad reviewed the case “many, many times” before deciding earlier this year to meet with prosecutors about it.

After meeting with the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, they decided to bring the case to the grand jury, Hill said.

Hill said “new technology” aided the decision to proceed with charges against Tetso. Police submitted images from the surveillance footage to the FBI for analysis.

Hill said police and prosecutors “feel confident” they can win a conviction against Tetso for the alleged murder despite his wife’s missing body — and he said investigators will continue looking for Tracey Tetso’s remains.

Dennis Tetso remains in custody at the Baltimore County Detention Center, in Towson.

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