ALBEMARLE, N.C. -- A relative of the victim in an alleged murder-for-hire plot said Wednesday he has been told the case could be slowed as several prosecutors leave the Stanly County District Attorney’s office.

Betty Neumar, 77, was arrested last year on a felony charge of solicitation for murder.

Investigators believe Neumar hired a gunman to murder her husband, Harold Gentry, in 1986.

Al Gentry, the victim’s brother, told NewsChannel 36 he learned four of the county’s 12 prosecutors were leaving after he was contacted by Stanly County District Attorney Michael Parker.

“He said ‘it’s just going to make it harder on me, it’s going to take longer to get this done’,” Gentry said, referring to Neumar’s trial.

Parker has declined to discuss the case with reporters. An assistant confirmed Wednesday some prosecutors are stepping down to accept other positions, and one assistant district attorney is retiring.

Harold Gentry was found shot to death in July 1986. The case went unsolved and was reopened by Stanly County Sheriff Rick Burris after he took office in 2007.

Neumar, who was living in Augusta, Georgia at the time of her arrest, has pleaded not guilty. She was released from jail last fall on $300,000 bond.

Sources told NewsChannel 36 the grandmother is under a doctor’s care for high blood pressure and other ailments.

It is not uncommon in North Carolina for murder defendants to wait two to three years for a trial.

Al Gentry said he understands the court system is facing a backlog of cases, but he worries Neumar may never see her day in court.

“I want to see 12 people try her, I want to see her in court,” he said. “If she dies she’s gotten away with it.”