Catherine Campbell murder case to return to court in April

The lawyer representing the man accused of killing off-duty Truro police officer Catherine Campbell says it may be possible to hold a preliminary inquiry this summer. 

Christopher Calvin Garnier is being held in custody at a correctional centre in Pictou County. Garnier is accused of second-degree murder and indecently interfering with a dead body in the death of Campbell. 

He was not in Halifax provincial court Tuesday, but was represented by lawyer Joel Pink. The case will be back in court in April in hopes of finalizing dates for a preliminary hearing. 

Lawyers have tentatively set aside one week in July for the hearing.

But that will depend on whether Pink gets all the evidence he needs from the Crown. That includes medical, toxicology and forensic information, he said outside court.

"I don't have any of that type of evidence. I have all the other type of evidence. I have 1,700 pages of disclosure," Pink said.

The lawyers will return to court April 7 to update Judge Anne Derrick on whether they're prepared to hold the preliminary in July. If not, they're looking at dates in September, a year after Campbell was killed.

"We will test what we feel is relevant," Pink said of his plans for the preliminary hearing.

"If something is very clear we will not contest it. We will agree with the Crown but we will work with a list of witnesses and an agreed statement of facts prior to April when we meet with the judge."

Campbell, who had served six years with the Truro police force, was last seen in a Halifax bar on Sept. 11. Her body was found in a wooded area on the Halifax side of the Macdonald Bridge five days later.