Richard Cole, who is accused of murder in the , appeared at the Superior Courthouse in Pasadena on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office says Cole, 72, is due for another court appearance May 21 to set a date for a preliminary hearing.
On Sept. 1, 2001, Arcadia police found Charlotte Cole, 50, slumped over in her minivan in a restaurant parking lot at 59 Las Tunas Drive. She died of multiple stab wounds.
Though Richard Cole always remained a person of interest in the case, and homicide investigators even arrested him in 2011, the District Attorney's Office did not charge him with murder until Oct. 30, 2012.
Authorities arrested Cole on Nov. 4 at a Pasadena restaurant; three days later he pleaded not guilty in his wife's death.
He is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. If convicted, Cole could spend as many as 26 years to life in prison.
