The man accused murdering four people in Penticton last year is scheduled to face trial in Kelowna beginning next month.
John Brittain, 69, is facing three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder related to the deaths of Susan and Barry Wonch, Rudi Winter and Darlene Knippelberg on April 15, 2019.
Lawyers appeared in Kelowna courts by phone on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 23) for an in-camera pre-trial conference in advance of the trial’s Oct. 5 start date. Details of what was discussed in that hearing remain unknown.
The matter has faced several delays while working its way through the courts over the past year-and-a-half, the most recent being the COVID-19 pandemic which put off setting the trial date a number of times.
In May, an application was granted to move the trial to Kelowna from Penticton, though the reasoning behind that move is not known.
While he initially elected to have a jury trial, it is now scheduled to be heard by Supreme Court judge alone.
In March, Black Press Media reported that the trial for the accused Penticton shooter was anticipated to take four weeks.
READ MORE: Penticton quadruple murder trial moved to Kelowna
READ MORE: One year later after the tragic shooting spree in Penticton
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