The lawyer for a man charged in a strangulation murder wants to get the ball rolling for a preliminary hearing.
John MacNaughton told Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday he has read a large volume of disclosure from the Crown and is ready to set a preliminary hearing date for his client Martin Munro, 36, who is charged with second-degree murder.
Court heard that MacNaughton will first have to meet with chief Crown prosecutor Anders Quist and another court official to schedule a pre-trial conference date to determine how much time will be needed for the preliminary.
Munro, who appeared on closed circuit television, returns to court on March 9 to confirm the date for the hearing.
Preliminaries are held to determine if there’s enough evidence to warrant the accused stand trial in Court of Queen’s Bench.
Jolyn Ten Hove, 37, of Red Deer also faces a second-degree murder charge and also appears again on March 9.
The accused were charged on Jan. 20, after the body of George William McDonald, 40, of Red Deer was discovered in a residence on Forest Close.
An autopsy revealed McDonald had been strangled.
Police alleged earlier that a fight broke out between two males in the residence.