A man charged with murdering two people and dumping their bodies in a farmer’s field has been ordered to stand trial in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.
Morris William Phillips, 48, formerly of the Lacombe area, was told Friday to appear in Queen’s Bench on Oct. 3 to set a date for a trial which would be held at the earliest late next spring.
Phillips, who was charged with killing two Central Alberta men near Tees more than two years ago, had his preliminary hearing conclude Friday in provincial court.
Details of the hearing and circumstances surrounding the murders are banned under a court-imposed order.
Phillips, who was released on bail last fall in the amount of a $200,000 property surety, is charged with two counts each of first-degree and or second-degree murder and committing an indignity to human remains.
The RCMP allege the murders occurred on April 7, 2008, near Tees.
The bodies of Thomas Joseph Shaughnessy, 46, of Red Deer, and Thomas Robert Howells Jr., 40, of the Wetaskiwin and Red Deer areas, were found by Fort Saskatchewan RCMP.
Police received a call from a farmer on May 30, 2008 near Lamont, east of Edmonton.
Phillips was arrested and charged on Oct. 23, 2010.
Shaughnessy, a journeyman electrician, and Howells, an autobody shop worker, were reported missing by family members in early April 2008.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com