The case against a Sturgeon Bay man charged with starting the fire that destroyed a bar and killed two people will have to wait until next year to be tried.

The Anthony Gonzalez trial will begin on May 22nd, 2023, at the request of his attorney Aileen Henry. During a pre-trial conference call on Tuesday, Henry first requested the adjournment of the trial before asking the court for a new date. She told Judge D. Todd Ehlers that she needed more time to complete her investigation before proceeding to trial. The jury trial was scheduled to begin on November 28th. Gonzalez, 58, admitted to local authorities in February that he had inadvertently started the fire when filling a butane lighter, and fluid spilled on his bed above Butch’s Bar and ignited. Two people were later found dead in the rubble after the fire that displaced nine tenants, including one hospitalized with burns. He entered a not-guilty plea in May.

Despite multiple attempts to have it reduced or removed, Gonzalez remains behind bars on a $250,000 cash bond.