GREENUP, Ky. — Attorneys representing a Kitts Hill man accused of murder want a judge to prevent jurors from hearing confession statements the man made following his arrest, saying the arrest warrant was illegal.

Steven Hughes and Sam Weaver filed the motion to suppress statements made by Arthur Quigley, who is charged with the murder of Mary Dixon, on June 13 in Greenup Circuit Court.

The public defenders said the arrest warrant, obtained by Russell Police Detective Adam Davis, did not give a probable cause for Quigley’s arrest as the criminal complaint only included the statement, “The Affiant, Detective Adam Davis states that on 6/26/2013 in Greenup County, Kentucky, the above-named defendant unlawfully committed the offense of murder by intentionally causing the death of Mary C. Dixon.”

Hughes and Weaver said in the motion Davis should have told the judge why he believed Quigley committed murder and that because he did not, the arrest was illegal.

The two also said at the time of Quigley’s arrest on June 30, 2013, in Preble County, “Quigley had been drinking for several days.”

The defenders also filed a motion to suppress all crime scene and autopsy photos citing “crime scene photos are generally admissible unless the condition of the body has been materially altered by mutilation, autopsy, decomposition or other extraneous causes, not related to the commission of the crime, so that the pictures tend to arouse passion and appall the viewer.”

Greenup Circuit Judge Bob Conley scheduled a hearing on the motions for 9:30 a.m. July 2.

Quigley’s trial is set to begin Aug. 11. If convicted of murder, Quigley faces 20 years to life in prison.

The body of Mary Dixon, 40, of South Shore, was found June 29 in a shallow, water-filled ditch behind Hobby Lobby by some people who were following geo-caching GPS coordinates. She had been reported missing by a nephew on June 27 after she didn’t return to her mother’s home after a shift at Subway restaurant in Russell, Ky. Her vehicle was still in the parking lot with her purse still inside.

According to an autopsy report, the main cause of death was blood loss from a cut to Dixon’s throat. She also received blunt force trauma to the head.

During the investigation into Dixon’s disappearance, and then death, Davis writes in his narrative that Quigley, Dixon and another woman, all employees at Subway, were involved in a polyamorous relationship.

Before Dixon’s body was found, the other woman involved in the relationship, who lived with Quigley, told Davis that the three had been in a relationship together, but she and Quigley had mutually decided to end the relationship.

Davis also interviewed Quigley while authorities were searching for Dixon.

According to the police narrative, Quigley allegedly admitted to going to Subway to see Dixon to tell her “he was taking a break from the relationship.”

Quigley said after the restaurant closed, the two walked around the outside of the store and behind the building and talked.

Quigley was arrested in Eldorado at a friend’s house by Preble County Sheriff’s deputies.

During an interview, Quigley told the detective he had told Dixon the relationship was “getting to be too much for him to handle” and that it was “killing him and tearing him apart.”

Quigley also said he had recently found some text messages between Dixon and the other woman about their sexual relationship and allegedly told Dixon that he wanted to end the three-way relationship.

According to the report, Quigley said Dixon responded by saying she wanted the other woman more than he did, at which point Quigley said he “lost it.”

Quigley allegedly admitted to cutting Dixon’s throat with a box cutter that was thrown off the Ironton-Russell Bridge.

He also said he washed his clothing and threw them in the trash when he returned to his Kitts Hill home, the report stated.

Quigley said he was “absolutely beside himself for what he had done,” according to the report.