Three years after the death of a Lake Country woman, the murder trial for the husband is finally on its way to trial after an arraignment hearing on Monday morning.
Lambertus Westervelt, 63, was charged in April of 2019 for allegedly killing his wife in June of 2016.
Crown counsel has estimated a five-week preliminary hearing, for which the date is yet to be set.
A Tuesday hearing was set to fix a date for a pre-trial conference between his defence counsel and Crown counsel.
Westervelt was taken into police custody in an April 6, 2019 arrest for the second-degree murder of his wife Arlene Westervelt, 56.
He was granted bail soon after, on April 16.
At the time of Arlene’s death RCMP said called the incident a tragic accident. She and Bert had been canoeing on the afternoon of June 26, 2016, when their canoe capsized. Police said (Bert) was rescued by a passing boater, but Arlene could not be found.
Despite an extensive search of Okanagan Lake by local fire and rescue personnel that evening, Arlene’s body wasn’t recovered until the following day.
She was found in 35 feet of water, approximately 100 feet from the shore, by trained divers with the RCMP underwater recovery team.
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