Murder suspect appears in court

Pier Robotti, who is accused in the murder of Roxanne Louie, is being tried by a judge in Kelowna

The man accused of murdering Roxanne Louie in Penticton two years ago appeared in Kelowna court Monday morning.

However, nothing about the proceedings can be reported because of an “all-matters publication ban.”

Pier Robotti will appear again in court on April 10.

Back in January, Robotti waived his right to a jury trail, opting for a trial by judge alone starting Monday.

Robotti’s sister, Grace Robotti, was also charged with second-degree murder.

However, she is being tried separately, by judge and jury, with the trial starting on March 20.

In December, a judge ruled the Robotti siblings would stand trail separately with a media blackout imposed on Monday’s trial for the brother so the jury pool wouldn’t be tainted for the sister’s trial.

Grace Robotti, who is the great-grandmother of Louie’s son, filed an application to have access to records kept by the RCMP and the Ministry of Children and Family Development pertaining to Louie and her son.

Louie, 26 at the time, was visiting the South Okanagan over Christmas 2014 with her three-year-old son.

Louie and the boy were scheduled to fly back to Vancouver, where they had moved in 2014, from Penticton on Jan. 4, 2015.

When they didn’t make that flight, they were reported missing to police.

Louie’s body was later discovered in the woods near Naramata.

Louie was a member of the Osoyoos Indian Band, originally from the Oliver area.

The Robotti cases were moved to Kelowna because of security concerns at the Penticton courthouse.