A jury was selected on Monday to decide the fate of a man who is alleged to have committed a double-murder in Princeton last year.
Twelve jurors and one alternate have been selected for the trial of John Ike Koopmans, who faces two counts of murder and one attempted murder in relation to a shooting that occurred on March 30, 2013 on a property just outside of Princeton.
Jurors were selected out of 100 possible candidates on Feb. 16 and are expected to return to the Penticton Supreme Court on Feb. 23 for an estimated four to five week trial.
A voir dire, a smaller hearing held to examine the eligibility of prospective jurors, or the admissibility of contested evidence, is expected to continue to the end of this week at the Penticton Court House.
Defence council Don Skogstad is representing Koopmans, who is charged with shooting and killing Rosemary Fox and Robert Keith Wharton. They were found dead on a piece of property located on Old Hedley Road.
Another man was found at the scene and was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound.
At the time of the alleged shootings RCMP said information gathered indicated all parties involved were from the Princeton area and were known to each other. Residents in the Old Hedley Road area in Princeton said they were awakened on the morning after the shootings by the sounds of officers calling out on a megaphone in the areas of Tulameen Avenue, Angela Avenue and Pine Street.
Frank Dubenski will represent the Crown and the trial will be presided over by Justice Miriam Maisonville.
Koopmans was arrested by RCMP in Princeton on March 31, 2013 without incident and has been in custody since.
