NORWICH– A 23-year-old man charged with murdering his friend at a Sherburne apartment complex appeared in Chenango County Court for the first time Thursday.

Joshua T. Story and his attorney Public Defender Alan E. Gordon appeared before Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd to make a request for bail. Story has been held without bail since his arrest Feb. 23. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of killing his friend, Kallin P. Richards, 24, of New Berlin.

District Attorney Joseph McBride objected to the request, saying, “We ask this defendant be remanded without bail, your honor. He is not from our area; he’s from Tennessee. He has every reason to flee in order to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.”

Gordon said his client did not have a serious criminal record, “minor offenses in his past, underage drinking I believe, something like that, something minimal.”

Dowd ordered Story’s bail set at $50,000. Story remains in jail this morning.

McBride said he would present the case to the grand jury next week, seeking murder charges.

On the night the alleged murder took place, Story and Richards were spending time together with some other friends playing cards at Story’s 33 Classic St. apartment in the Village of Sherburne after going to the local bar down the street.