FARGO (AP) -- Cass County officials say they dropped a gun possession charge against a man accused of killing a Wells County couple because they expect him to be charged in federal court.
Aron Nichols, 28, of Fargo, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun. Police said they found the weapon during a search of his home.
Gary Delorme, an assistant Cass County state's attorney, said the gun charge was dropped with the expectation that federal charges will be filed by the U.S. attorney's office. U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley's office declined comment.
Nichols also is charged with two counts of Class AA felony murder in the deaths of Donald Willey, 70, and his wife, Alice, 67, of rural Sykeston. Their bodies were found in their home April 7, after the home was destroyed by fire. Authorities said the couple died of gunshot wounds.
Nichols' fiance, Tamara Sorenson, 29, of Fargo, was charged in June as an accomplice in the deaths.
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Sorenson's 7-year-old daughter is the Willeys' granddaughter. Court records show that Sorenson and the Willeys were involved in a bitter dispute over their rights to visit their granddaughter.
