Just weeks after a Jackson County Circuit Court judge approved a Houston, Texas, man’s ability to go home pending trial over his alleged involvement in an Applegate black-market marijuana grow discovered through a double-murder, his attorneys indicated in court filings Monday he intends to plead guilty next month.                 

Baron Erik Munchausen, 36, will enter his new plea at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 8, to two counts of unlawful possession of a marijuana item, one count of unlawful manufacture of a marijuana item and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

Muchausen’s Medford-based attorney, Justin Rosas, did not immediately respond to request for comment. 

Munchausen was set to go on trial for the charges July 20, but that date was canceled in favor of new release conditions, which allowed him to appear virtually for proceedings until a trial. Munchausen will appear for his Sept. 8 change of plea hearing by telephone, according to court records.

Munchausen was arrested Feb. 22 after authorities served a search warrant on him and the property in the 1400 block of Wagon Trail Drive that belonged to former Rogue Valley Cannabis co-owner James Gerald Martin III, 37, who was murdered in Houston, alongside a 35-year-old Portland man, Dana Ryssdal.

Once Houston police discovered the men’s bodies — as well as illegal marijuana and cash — local authorities discovered the Applegate cannabis grow, where police found 572 marijuana plants, approximately 275 pounds of processed illegal cannabis, two firearms and $7,600 in cash. 

Munchausen was never a person of interest or suspect in the Houston double-homicide, police said. Two suspects, Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, were charged in a Texas court with capital murder for Ryssdal and Martin’s deaths. Nguyen and Phan were recently brought back to Houston from Vietnam after a months-long search that involved the U.S. Marshals Service. A third suspect, Kathy Vu, 23, was charged with tampering with evidence for allegedly helping Phan and Nguyen cover up the crime.