Joshua Maylee still doesn't have a lawyer, and his request for a public defender was declined a second time during a counsel status hearing Friday in Callaway County Court.
Maylee, 23, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault with serious physical injury, following shootings on Oct. 26 and 27 near Holts Summit.
Eugene Pinet, 48, his wife, Jackie Pinet, 57, and Jeff Werdehausen, 46, all died.
Werdehausen's wife, Gina, 41, also was shot, but survived the Oct. 26 attack at their farm east of Holts Summit and north of Tebbetts.
The Pinets were killed Oct. 27 at their home west of Holts Summit.
Officials have said Maylee and the victims were connected by past dealings, but they have not elaborated.
Maylee, who is being held in Boone County and appeared Friday via videoconference, requested an explanation for not being assigned a public defender.
After Maylee's application for a public defender was made Oct. 29, the public defender's office found that Maylee had $60,000 of assets in a bank account and several thousands of dollars worth of lawn equipment, public defender Justin Carver told the court Friday.
After Maylee applied for assistance a second time, Carver told Associate Circuit Judge Carol England, the public defender's office found the $60,000 had been removed from Maylee's account and turned over to another person.
The staff of the public defender's office understood some of the equipment Maylee possessed may have been stolen, but believed Maylee still had some assets, Carver said.
"He was in the position to have the money, but chose not to use it for counsel and to use it for something else," Carver said. "If that is the route we want to take, even (Microsoft founder) Bill Gates could qualify for a public defender if he signed over his assets to another person."
England advised Maylee to find outside counsel before a Dec. 23 hearing.
An attorney did step forward for Maylee in his theft case, but said she expected to be only a substitute attorney for other charges.