Accused murderer Michael Roebuck will return to Criminal Appearance Court on Dec. 17, according to the Airdrie' resident's new defence lawyer.
After Kim Ross stepped down as Roebuck's defence counsel in early November, Roebuck retained Krysia Przepiorka as his new attorney. Przepiorka appeared in the Calgary Courts Centre on Nov. 19 to request disclosure for the case.
When reached later, Przepiorka told the Airdrie City View her client will reappear in court on Dec. 17 to find out when his trial will get underway.
Roebuck, 61, is accused of first-degree murder in the Sept. 7, 2019 shooting of Daniel Mcdonald, who was 59. The two both lived on Canals Close in the Canals District in Airdrie. According to Airdrie RCMP's press release issued shortly after the murder, the two knew each other and the shooting was premeditated.
When the trial got underway on Nov. 1, Roebuck's former lawyer, Kim Ross, told the judge he and Crown Prosecutor Joe Mercier had negotiated a deal for Roebuck to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. Justice Rosemary Nation accepted the plea deal, and set Nov. 4 as the sentencing hearing – a day the court was also supposed to hear victim impact statements and an agreed statement of facts.
However, when they reconvened on Nov. 4, Ross later told Nation that Roebuck was not willing to sign the statement of agreed facts for the trial. That led to Ross requesting the guilty plea to be struck and for a new trial date to be determined. He also said he was stepping down as Roebuck's lawyer due to the "breakdown in the source-client relationship."
