CLEVELAND -- Three men arrested in the double murder at a Cleveland car dealership were back in court Monday morning.
Joseph McAlpin, Andrew Keener and Jerome Diggs are each facing charges connected to the murders of Mike Kuznik and Trina Tomola, who were both found dead at Mr. Cars on E. 185th Street back on April 14.
Watch the full arraignment here:
McAlpin was the first to face the judge. He entered a plea of not guilty, but also asked the judge to read him the indictment because his legal counsel was not present and he didn't understand the proceedings.
“This is going to take a while,” the judge declared while adding they "might as well read War and Peace" after seeing the length of McAlpin's indictment.
McAlpin told the judge he wasn't trying to be an inconvenience. He just wanted to make sure he understood everything.
The judge said it was no problem, adding that she's "a very good reader."
McAlpin replied, "I'm a very good understander."
It took her more than 15 minutes to finish reading the indictment. A not guilty plea was entered and he was remanded without bond.
Moments later, Diggs was next to go before the judge. Bond was placed at $1 million, and a pretrial was set for 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 4.
Keener was the final defendant to be arraigned. He, too, was placed on a $1 million bond. Pretrial for Keener was then set for 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 4.
While Keener and Diggs were arrested earlier this month, McAlpin has been behind bars for months since his arrest in June.