The preliminary hearing opened on Tuesday for a man accused of murdering a young woman and then dumping her body near Innisfail.
Dana Jane Turner was 31 when she was reported missing from her home in Fort Saskatchewan in August 2011. Her remains were found in a rural area near Innisfail on Oct. 9 of that year.
Mark Damien Lindsay, 25, was arrested last March, accused of killing Turner, dumping her body and interfering with police investigators.
Lindsay, who remains in custody, pleaded not guilty on May 8 to charges of second-degree murder, interfering with remains and obstructing police. He asked to be tried by a Court of Queen’s Bench judge and jury, with a preliminary hearing to be held before proceeding to trial.
Turner’s mother, Wendy Yurko, was among the people who sat in the gallery for the first day of the Red Deer provincial court hearing, which is scheduled for five days over the next three weeks and ending on Feb. 1.
Lindsay was seated behind glass in the prisoner’s box, fidgeting and frequently squirming or rocking back and forth in his chair during testimony.
A number of witnesses have been scheduled to testify during Lindsay’s hearing, which is being held before Judge Bert Skinner.
Mark Damien Lindsay is the adopted son of John Lindsay, former chief of the Edmonton Police Service.
Preliminary hearings are used to determine whether charges are to proceed to trial. There is a publication ban on all evidence brought forward during the hearing.