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Penticton News

Lawyer overbooking delays murder trial

Rose Fox and Robert Keith Wharton were found dead in Princeton on April 21. Princeton man John Ike Koopmans has charged in connection to their deaths and is still waiting for a preliminary trial.
Image Credit: Facebook

PENTICTON - A scheduling mix-up means a preliminary hearing for Princeton resident John Ike Koopmans, who is facing two counts of murder, will be delayed.

Koopmans, 49 is accused of two counts of murder in connection to the deaths of Robert Wharton, 44, and Rose Fox, 32, as well as one count of attempted murder. The bodies of Wharton and Fox were found at a property on Old Hedley Road earlier this year. Police also found a third individual, a 48-year-old man, who was treated for life-threatening injuries. His name has not been released.

Koopmans' preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 25 but defence lawyer Don Skogstad told a Penticton Provincial Court judge today he overbooked and is now looking for a new date sometime in the third week of February. That date will be decided early next week.

The accused has been remanded to the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, Skogstad said. He added his client has never applied for bail and it is rare for the courts to grant it for a person facing more than one murder charge.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict

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