CALGARY — A man accused of killing a boy and his grandparents nearly one year ago has been ordered to stand trial.
Douglas Garland was arrested last year following the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and five-year-old Nathan O’Brien.
Alberta Judge Bob Wilkins ruled there was sufficient evidence presented at a preliminary inquiry to send Garland, who is 55, to trial.
Garland faces three counts of first-degree murder, although the bodies of the couple and their grandson have not been found.
Garland originally faced second-degree murder in relation to the boy’s death, but the charge was upgraded.
Nathan was sleeping over with his grandparents last June after they held an estate sale at their Calgary home in advance of a move to Edmonton and then Mexico.
When the boy’s mother arrived the next morning to pick him up, no one was home and a search began.