The trial for a Kelowna man charged in the killing of his wife and two young daughters will get to a slow start.
On Monday, the court heard that accused murderer Jacob Forman has changed legal counsel. That means the case that was supposed to go to pre-trial next month will be delayed by at least four weeks while Forman’s new lawyer gets his bearings.
“Mr. Forman was in touch with my office (while I was on vacation) and said he wanted other legal counsel,” said Forman’s defence lawyer Glenn Verdurmen, before he was removed as counsel of record.
“We spoke … and as a result Mr. Forman is no longer going to instruct me.”
It’s unclear how this change will affect the timing of legal proceedings beyond the four-week delay announced this week.
Forman, as has become common in these proceedings, appeared via video with his head bowed and said very little.
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He is facing two charges of first degree murder relating to the deaths of his daughters, Karina and Yesenia Forman.
The charge relating to the death of his wife Clara Forman is second degree murder.
Clara Forman was originally from Mexico and worked at GoodLife Fitness, she wrote on Facebook that she met Forman 12 years ago.
“Met in January, started dating in July, engaged Oct. 27 married three weeks later on Nov. 11 at sunset. When I married Jacob Forman I left everything I knew to come to Canada and build a life,” she wrote, Nov. 11, 2015.
“God blessed our feeble efforts with good jobs, good friends, a great church family and most importantly, two of the best little humans a couple of people could ask for. Ten years later you are still the person I want to grow old with.”
Forman has no previous criminal record in B.C. A plumber, he was raised in Quesnel and social media indicates he may have lived in Vernon.
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