The case of murder suspect Gordon Alfred Rogers has been adjourned to July 19.
Rogers was once again in court at the Alberta Provincial Court building in Lloydminster, with the latest court date being his fourth appearance. Rogers is the accused in two criminal cases from the local area, after being arrested in Red Deer back in March, and subsequently charged with the first-degree murders of Violet Heathen and Jeanette Chief.
The investigation into the murders brought together police from the Saskatoon-based F Division of the RCMP and the Edmonton-based K Division, and determined that Rogers had known Heathen previously to her murder, and that Chief had not known him.
Rogers made his first appearance in court on April 5, 2016, via CCTV, and has been appearing via CCTV in his subsequent appearances. Each appearance has been brief, and resulted in a further adjournment as the legal process worked its way through the court.
However, according to Chief Crown Prosecutor Jeff Rudiak, the adjournments were due to Roger’s defense counsel, Ontario lawyer Andrew Perrin, not having finished the reading of the material which resulted in Roger’s arrest. Rudiak said all the disclosure related to the case has now been provided to Perrin, which could mean the next court date may result in more development of the case.
“If not the next court date, it’ll be the following,” said Rudiak.
“Hopefully by the end of the summer, we’ll have some direction.”
Rudiak said the Crown is waiting for the defense to figure out where they want to go with the case, as no plea has yet been entered.
“The lawyer can only advise, it’s the clients decision,” said Rudiak.
If the case did go to trial, Rudiak indicated both counts of murder would likely be tried at the same time, similar to the case of serial killer Robert Pickton in British Columbia.