It’s been nearly three years since former Jefferson City political reporter and radio talk show host James Keown was arrested while his show on KLIK was on a break, and Keown is finally facing the murder charges against him in Woburn, Mass.

Keown is accused of murdering his wife in Sept. 2004. After she died, he moved back to Jefferson City, where he had lived in part of his youth, and hosted a morning radio show in the capital city. Keown also appeared on sister station KFRU in Columbia, which is where I met him. At the time, I was a columnist and talk show host in Columbia.

Here’s the AP’s early accounting of his trial:

WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — A prosecutor has told a jury that a former Missouri radio reporter accused of poisoning his wife with antifreeze killed her so he could collect $250,000 in insurance money.

James Keown (KOW’-in) is charged with killing his wife, Julie, in September 2004 after lacing her Gatorade with antifreeze. The couple lived in Waltham.

Prosecutor Nathaniel Yeager told the jury Monday that Keown had been fired from his job and was deeply in debt when he began poisoning his wife.

Keown’s lawyer agreed Julie Keown died from ingesting ethylene glycol _ a chemical found in antifreeze _ but he said she may have committed suicide or been accidentally poisoned.

More than a year after his wife’s death, Keown was arrested in Jefferson City, Mo., where he was a reporter and talk show host at radio station KLIK.