Wichita ? As expected, a judge Thursday postponed the scheduled preliminary hearing for Dennis Rader, the Park City man authorities say is the BTK serial killer.

Sedgwick County District Judge Gregory Waller agreed to delay the hearing, originally set for Tuesday, to allow defense attorneys more time to prepare their case. Rader, charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, is being held on $10 million bond.

His preliminary hearing has now been rescheduled to April 19.

The continuance is “standard procedure,” said Georgia Cole, spokeswoman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

The BTK killer, whose nickname stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill,” was suspected of eight slayings, the first coming in 1974. Police added two additional killings to BTK’s total after Rader’s arrest.

“A case this complex, it would not at all be unusual to continue it,” said Mark Orr, a spokesman for the three attorneys from the county’s public defenders office appointed to represent Rader.

If the judge decides at the preliminary hearing there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, Rader will be arraigned and formally enter a plea to the charges.