CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — A new judge has been named in the case of a man charged with strangling two women and suspected in the deaths of five other women whose bodies were found in abandoned homes in Gary.

The (Munster) Times reports Lake Criminal Judge Samuel Cappas will preside over the case, which was moved from Lake Criminal Judge Diane Boswell’s courtroom.

Boswell had recused herself from the case. Court records didn’t indicate why.

Darren Vann faces murder charges in the deaths of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy and 35-year-old Anith Jones of Merrillville

The Lake County prosecutor’s office is seeking the death penalty.

The case had been scheduled to go trial on Jan. 25.