Keep your eyes on the Media Courthouse today. There could be some news on the mysterious circumstances surround the murder of a 23-year-old intern whose naked body was found in the basement of a Thornury home.

The defense team for William Smithson, charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Jason Shephard, an intern from North Dakota who was in this area working for the same company as Smithson, will be in court looking to get a judge to drop a gag order in the case.

The guy they want to talk to is F. Bruce Covington. He’s a former Saint Joseph’s University official who is the so-called “mystery man” in the case.

Covington has admitted being in the house that night, although he says he did not see anything. Obviously Smithson’s defense team believes otherwise. Covington is not charged in the Shephard case.

The case took still another bizarre twist recently when Covington was arrested on drug charges in Montgomery County. That in itself is no big deal, but it’s the circumstances that brought police to his apartment that has raised eyebrows.

Authorities got a search warrant after a man complained that he had been drugged and sexually assaulted in the apartment. Covington is not charged with any sex crimes, however, only drug violations. He waived a hearing on those charges Thursday and was held for trial.

Smithson’s lawyer has stated the circumstances in the incident in Covington’s apartment bear a striking resemblance to what happened in Smithson’s house on that fatal night.

That’s why they want to talk to Covington.

Stay tuned.