Richard Froese
South Peace News
A young Driftpile Cree Nation man charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his father April 10 will have to wait a few more weeks to find out dates for his preliminary inquiry.
The matter of Starr Frederick Sasakamoose Jr., returned to High Prairie Court of Justice on Nov. 6.
Justice S.P. Hinkley put the matter over to Dec. 4 to set dates for a preliminary inquiry.
Prior to that, a pre-trial conference is scheduled for Nov. 24 for the Crown and defence lawyer Harry Jong to discuss and determine the number of days required for the inquiry.
Sasakamoose Jr. remains in custody in the Edmonton Remand Centre.
A psychiatric assessment found Sasaka- moose Jr. fit to stand trial, charged in connection with the death of his father, Starr Felix Sasakamoose, 43.
By law, all accused charged with murder are tried in the Court of King’s Bench.
Sasakamoose Jr. was 26 when he was charged.
At the first appearance April 17, Jong told court that Sasakamoose Jr. and his family requested that the accused wanted a psychiatric assessment.
“They say he does suffer from schizophrenia and sometimes goes into psychotic episodes,” Jong said in court April 17.
Lakeshore Regional Police Service reported in a new release that officers responded to a report of a deceased individual at a residence on the reserve April 10 at about 6:45 p.m.
Lakeshore police arrested an occupant of the house. Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit was dispatched to the scene to assist with the investigation.
The cause of death was not revealed by police.
Sasakamoose Sr. was re-elected to Driftpile Cree Nation council Dec. 19, 2022 with 235 votes.