Motion withdrawn in slain social worker case

? Attorneys for a man accused of killing his mental health worker have withdrawn their request for a judge to throw out statements their client made to police after his arrest.

Andrew Ellmaker’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 9. He is accused of fatally stabbing Teri Zenner, a Kansas University graduate student, who worked for the Johnson County Mental Health Center.

On Friday, Ellmaker’s attorneys withdrew their motion to suppress his statements. His attorneys previously had argued that he was disoriented and suffering from a a drug overdose when arrested in August 2004 by police responding to a report of a stabbing and house fire.