The preliminary hearing for a former Lacombe area man charged with killing two Central Alberta men near Tees more than two years ago is in its final stages.
Morris William Phillips, 47, is set for the final day of the protracted hearing on Friday when two Crown witnesses are expected to testify in Red Deer provincial court.
Evidence from a single witness was heard Wednesday. Several witnesses testified earlier in August.
The matter should be concluded Friday but the defence has the option of calling evidence.
Seldom, if ever, does the defence call evidence at preliminaries. The judge will then make a ruling if the accused should stand trial in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.
Details of the hearing and circumstances surrounding the murders are banned under a court-imposed order.
Phillips, who was released on bail last fall, is charged with two counts each of first-degree and or second-degree murder and committing an indignity to human remains.
The RCMP allege the murders occurred on April 7, 2008, near Tees.
Phillips is also charged with arson, which RCMP allege occurred on April 27, 2008, in connection with a fire at a home owned by Phillips in the Tees area.
The bodies of Thomas Joseph Shaughnessy, 46, of Red Deer, and Thomas Robert Howells Jr., 40, of the Wetaskiwin and Red Deer areas, were found by Fort Saskatchewan RCMP officers after receiving a call from a farmer on May 30, 2008.
The site is near Hwys 45 and 831, near Lamont, east of Edmonton.
Phillips was arrested and charged on Oct. 23, 2010.
Shaughnessy, a journeyman electrician, and Howells, an autobody shop worker, were reported missing by family members in early April 2008.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com