The Dayton man convicted in the Ottawa murder-cremation insists he was wrongly convicted. William Horman will get a chance to call live witnesses on April 10.

Horman, 59, appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court in his ongoing effort to overturn his murder conviction. He was sentenced to 40 years for the 2015 killing of Robert Dowd, Horman’s former boss.

Over a two-hour hearing, Horman argued he was wrongly prosecuted and even disputed whether the La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office had the authority to try him. Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. denied those post-trial motions.

But the judge did schedule an April 10 hearing for Horman to call live witnesses. The first batch includes three present or former inmates of the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The thrust of Horman’s argument is that accomplice Jonathan Beckman falsely testified to seeing Horman bludgeon Dowd to death. Beckman further testified he helped Horman incinerate the body.

Horman, prosecutors allege, was enraged when Dowd reneged on a pledge to give Horman a stake in Dowd’s truck-washing business.

To hear Horman tell it, his murder conviction was built atop Beckman’s perjury. He intends to call inmates who, while serving time with Beckman, heard Beckman boast of having lied on the stand to wriggle out of a long prison sentence.

Horman remains convicted of murder and that conviction has so far withstood appeals. The 3^rd District Appellate Court did, however, remand him back to La Salle County Circuit Court for a new round of post-trial motions.