EDMONTON — The Alberta Crown wants the case of man accused of fatally shooting three security guards to go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing.
Travis Baumgartner was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder following a June 15 armed robbery on the University of Alberta campus.
The Crown says there is enough evidence to go to trial in Court of Queen’s Bench without spending months in a preliminary hearing.
Michelle Davio, a spokeswoman for Alberta Justice, says the Crown has filed a direct indictment, which means an accused can go directly to trial without having a preliminary hearing.
She says it’s an option that’s provided to the prosecution under the Criminal Code.
Davio says Steve Bilodeau is the Crown in the case.
Baumgartner, 21, is to be back in court Sept. 7.
He was arrested a day after the robbery at the Canada-U.S. border with $334,000 in a backpack.
The guards who died included Michelle Shegelski, 26, Eddie Rejano, 39, and Brian Ilesic, 35.