Cape Town - Two men accused of killing Cape Town stilt walker Rosemary Theron appeared in the Western Cape High Court on Friday.
Prosecutor Susan Galloway said Kyle Maspero, 18, and Godfrey Scheepers, 20, would stand trial on June 9.
She said Maspero intended pleading guilty but the State had problems with the factual basis of his plea.
This meant the State would in all likelihood reject the plea, causing him to stand trial.
The court would have access to his admissions and this was likely to substantially shorten the trial duration.
The pair were wide-eyed in the dock and kept their hands behind their back when being addressed by Judge Robert Henney.
Their trial was set down for June 9. Both men are out on bail.
At the start of the month, Theron's 19-year-old daughter Phoenix Racing Cloud entered a plea bargain with the State, according to Beeld.
She reportedly admitted that she helped her boyfriend Maspero strangle her 39-year-old mother with a rope in her home in Fish Hoek on March 7 last year.
Scheepers, also charged with murder, allegedly helped the two move the body and rebury it in a shallow grave.
Sapa