All three defendants in the Annika Swanson kidnapping and murder are headed for district court.
    Russell Mann, 43, of rural Enders, who faces felony accessory to kidnapping charges, waived his preliminary hearing in Chase County Court Friday.
    His co-defendants, Imperial native Kevin German, 24, now of Colorado Springs, and Keonna  Carter, 22, of Utah, had waived their preliminary hearings earlier. Both face charges of first degree murder; German is also charged with two kidnapping counts and Carter with one.
    A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which is the lead prosecutor in the case, said two hearings will be in Chase County District Court Jan. 28 and the other will be sometime in February. The order in which the defendants will appear has not been determined.
    Felony cases in Nebraska generally start in county court and are then transferred to district court.
    The charges against Mann are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The charges against German and Carter are punishable by a maximum of life in prison or death.
    The case began Nov. 21 when Monti Swanson of Imperial contacted Sheriff Kevin Mueller’s office to report he had not seen or heard from his 22-year-old daughter for a week and was concerned for her safety. The Sheriff’s Office immediately began an investigation.

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