TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. --A central New York millionaire tried three times in his wife's death will stand trial a fourth time before a judge, rather than a jury,reports CBS affiliate WBNG.

In court Monday, Cal Harris told the station he wants the case "tried on the evidence and the facts." The trial in front of Judge Richard Mott is set to begin Thursday.

Harris was accused of killing his estranged wife, Michele, on Sept. 11, 2001, at their home in the town of Spencer, in central New York State. Harris' two convictions in two prior trials for the crime were reversed by appeals courts, reports WBNG. A judge declared a mistrial in the third murder trial in May of 2015.

Michele Harris, 35, disappeared as the nation was riveted by the Sept. 11 terror attacks. A baby sitter found her empty minivan at the end of the couple's driveway on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001 - hours after she was last seen alive.

Prosecutors said Michele Harris was killed while the couple's four young children were asleep upstairs in their home. Although the couple was getting divorced, they still lived in the same house.

Calvin Harris, wealthy from his family's car dealerships, had told people she would not get half his business, according to court records.

Prosecutors relied on a largely circumstantial case. Michele Harris' body has never been located, and authorities have not found a murder weapon, though they said small blood spatters were found in the house.

This time, his defense team hopes to introduce new evidence, which was uncovered in January, more than 14 years after Michele Harris vanished, reports CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty, who's covered the case for nearly a decade.

Calvin Harris' defense team thinks the truth about what happened to Michele Harris may lie at the bottom of a burn pit on a property once owned by the man they believe is responsible for her murder. They say fabric found there may be connected to the victim.

"The color of the charred fabric is navy blue and tan. Those are the colors that Michelle was wearing the night she disappeared," said Bruce Barket, Harris's defense attorney.

But no trace of Michele Harris's DNA was among the ashes, and there is no guarantee the evidence will be allowed in Calvin Harris' fourth trial.

Harris has always maintained his innocence.

"It's been a nightmare. I've been ripped away from my kids three times now," Harris said back in 2014. "Three times now I've had to sit in a jail cell or a prison cell and wait for a judge or judges to overturn this thing."

Harris's four children insist their father isn't a killer.