Oskaloosa ? Michael Wurm’s appearance Friday before a Jefferson County judge was not his first time in a courtroom.

Now 43, the Meriden resident killed his parents and younger brother in 1977 when the family lived near Macksville, a small town in Stafford County. Wurm, according to press reports from the time, was just 15 when convicted of delinquency in the murders of his father, Joseph; mother, Diane; and 9-year-old brother, Jim.

This week, he began a new legal battle.

Kansas Atty. Gen. Phill Kline on Thursday charged Wurm with stealing roughly $364,400 from his grandmother, Reva Ross, whose daughter, Diane, he killed. Ross lives in an area nursing home.

After spending several years in a psychiatric institution after the 1977 killings, Wurm settled in eastern Kansas. He is married and has a son.

In court Friday, Wurm’s attorney, Randy Baird, and Assistant Atty. Gen. Loren F. Snell, who is prosecuting the case for the state, agreed on the terms of a reduced bond for Wurm.

Bond was lowered to $50,000 from $100,000, provided Wurm would not be allowed to make contact with witnesses and victims in the case, especially his grandmother. He also was required to surrender all weapons to the sheriff’s department, a request made by Snell “based upon Mr. Wurm’s history.”

District Magistrate Judge Steven Roth set Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 as tentative dates for a preliminary hearing in the case. The parties will finalize the date for the hearing via conference call in January.

Wurm posted bond and was released from Jefferson County jail Friday afternoon. He was required to turn over his 12-gauge shotgun and two rifles.

Grandson accused of stealing life savings of his grandmother (12-17-04)

After the hearing, Baird categorized the defendant’s relationship with his grandmother as “strained” given Wurm’s past, but said the two have been in contact a number of times since the alleged thefts ended in 2002.

According to the charges, the alleged thefts began when Wurm was given durable power of attorney by his grandmother in 1999. The thefts stopped when her funds ran out in 2002.