QUINCY – The trial for a former Adams County prosecutor accused of killing his wife is set to start later this month.

Curtis Lovelace, 47, was charged with first-degree murder in August 2014 for the suffocation death of his wife, 38-year-old Cory Lovelace, eight years earlier. The former University of Illinois football standout has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors and Curtis Lovelace's defense team say they're ready to start the trial Jan. 25. The trial has been delayed multiple times.

Judge Bob Hardwick ruled Wednesday that prosecutors won't be able to call Curtis Lovelace's second wife, Erica Gomez-Steinkamp, as a witness during trial, the Quincy Herald-Whig reported. The two married in 2008 in Puerto Rico and later divorced.

"The prejudicial effect of her testimony has nothing to do with the issue here," Hardwick said.

Hardwick also ruled against a request from Curtis Lovelace's defense team to have potential jurors interviewed individually. Instead, Hardwick said he would call four potential jurors at a time. He said he usually calls jury pools in groups of 24 to 27, but that he would change this process because of publicity surrounding the trial.

Special prosecutor Ed Parkinson and Curtis Lovelace's attorneys had no problem with Hardwick's plan.

"If we need to go to individual questioning, we'll do that," Hardwick said. "I'll do everything to make sure we have a fair jury."

Curtis Lovelace is a former Adams County assistant state's attorney and a former Quincy school board member. He is being held in the Hancock County Jail on $5 million bond.

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Information from: The Quincy Herald-Whig, http://www.whig.com