A trial date will be set for a Lacombe man accused of first-degree murder in a decade-old killing following a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Defence lawyer Michael Scrase said Shayne Earl Gulka consented to be committed to trial on the murder charge as well as a kidnapping charge. He had previously elected to be tried by a judge and jury in Court of Queen’s Bench.
Gulka is free on bail. He is expected to be arraigned and a trial date set on Dec. 5.
Scrase cross-examined two witnesses during the preliminary hearing in Red Deer provincial court. Any evidence heard during the hearing is subject to a publication ban.
Preliminary hearings are optional and may be used to test part or all of the Crown’s evidence before proceeding to trial.
Gulka, 45, was charged in March in connection with the death of Bradley William Webber, 46, in a rural area northwest of Eckville.
RCMP allege that on Oct. 24, 2006 an unnamed man was kidnapped and forced to give up the whereabouts of an associate, who was living in a fifth wheel on a rural property.
Police say Webber was shot several times.
A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for a second suspect, Kevin Edward Brown, who has also been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Brown remains at large, RCMP confirmed on Thursday.