SPARTANBURG — While no decision was made on Monday, defense attorneys for Ernest Riddle raised the possibility that the exhumation of a murder victim may be needed to gather evidence for the re-trial of the 25-year-old case.

Riddle’s attorneys have been seeking a “blood standard” from murder victim Abbie Sue Mullinax, whom Riddle is accused of killing Aug. 8, 1985, so it can be compared to DNA evidence they claim is important to the case. However, Attorney Jeffrey Bloom argued, the blood sample from Mullinax that police took into evidence years ago was apparently used up.

A prior court order from a different judge directed prosecutors to turn such evidence over to Riddle’s defense for new rounds of DNA testing.

Judge Mark Hayes directed prosecutors to make inquiries as to whether genetic samples, such as blood or hair, may be available from hospitals or doctors that treated Mullinax years ago. He stopped short, however, of granting a defense request for an exhumation.

“We’ll take this a step at a time,” he told the attorneys.

Prosecutors said in court they could not agree to an exhumation.