HOUGHTON — A Hancock man pleaded not guilty in Houghton County Circuit Court Monday to a November murder in downtown Houghton.

Evan Dixon, 60, waived his arraignment on the charges. He faces counts of first-degree murder-premeditated, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and felony firearms, punishable by up to two years in prison.

Dixon has been in jail since Nov. 17, after he was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Theron Duncan, 53, of Houghton at the Douglass House Saloon. 

Marquette County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Wiese is presiding at the circuit court level in the case of Dixon, a longtime local attorney. Houghton County Judge Brittany Bulleit, who also formerly worked as the county’s prosecutor and assistant prosecutor, recused herself from the case. 

A scheduling conference is scheduled in the case for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 1.