Martin Miller is led away after being convicted of his wife's murder in Judge Paula Martin's courtroom.

As a retrial date approaches for once-convicted murderer Martin Miller, his son — a witness in the case whose mother was the victim — is living in the house of an assistant district attorney.

Matthew Miller, 22, and senior assistant district attorney Eve Kemple explained the arrangement Tuesday during a hearing in Martin Miller’s murder case.

In 2005, a Douglas County jury convicted Martin Miller of first-degree murder for the July 28, 2004, death of his wife, Mary E. Miller, 46, at the family’s central Lawrence home. Prosecutors accused Miller, a former Lawrence carpenter and Christian school leader, of strangling his wife in her sleep because he had been having an affair with another woman and he wanted to collect $300,000 in life insurance money.

In 2012, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that Miller should get a new trial based on errors in the jury instructions during his initial trial.

Aiming to get the retrial moved to another jurisdiction, Martin Miller’s new attorney has filed a motion to disqualify the Douglas County District Attorney’s office from hearing the case. On Tuesday, Judge Paula Martin heard related evidence but will not rule on the location until later.

Kemple and Matthew Miller both testified that Matthew and Kemple’s son are friends, and the two had planned to move into an apartment together this summer. When those plans fell through at the last minute, Kemple agreed to let Miller stay at her home rent-free, where her son also lives, on a temporary basis.

Kemple is not involved in prosecuting Martin Miller’s murder case.

Kemple said she had not met Matthew Miller and did not know who his father was until shortly before he moved in. She said she explained to Miller what she did for a living, told him she would not discuss his father’s case with him and notified District Attorney Charles Branson of the arrangement.

Kemple said she “empathized” with Miller, whose mother was dead and who had told Kemple’s son he feared his father would try to kill him. Since her own son was the roommate who backed out, she felt badly that Miller had no place to live, Kemple said.

Miller testified that he is working two jobs and is trying to save money to buy a car and repay a debt to Kansas University and go back to school. Since finishing high school at an Iowa boarding school, he has lived with a number of friends in Lawrence and for a while with his guardian in Colorado, he said.

Both testified that they mostly see each other only in passing at the house and that Miller’s father’s case had come up in conversation on about three occasions. Miller and Kemple described those mentions as brief and not involving facts of the case.

In one instance, Miller said Kemple told him she was sorry he would have to go through another trial.

At this time, Martin Miller’s second jury trial is scheduled to begin in March, in Douglas County District Court.