Accused killer gets new date for pretrial court conference

Jacob Forman charged with murdering his wife and 2 daughters

After firing his lawyer, the Rutland man accused of killing his wife and two young daughters days before Christmas has a new date to discuss details of his upcoming trial.

Previously set for Aug. 9, the new pretrial conference will now start in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna on Aug. 27.

Jacob Forman, 34, is charged with murdering his wife of 12 years, Clara Soledad Forman, and their daughters, Yesenia Kate Forman, 8, and Karina Anne Forman, 7, sometime between Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, 2017.

No details about the deaths have been released.

Forman appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna on Monday via video from the the Okanagan Correctional Centre in Oliver.

Bald with a greying goatee and dressed in prison-issue orange T-shirt and pants, Forman stared down at the floor for the entire five minutes of the proceeding.

Forman’s previous lawyer, Glenn Verdumen, was on the phone to confirm Forman had removed him as his counsel of record.

Forman has chosen Ray Dieno from the Victoria firm of McCulloch Watt to be his new lawyer.

Verdumen is forwarding all documents concerning the case to Dieno, so the adjournment was granted for that reason.

For the pretrial conference on Aug. 27, the new lawyer will be allowed to connect to B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna by phone and Forman will again appear via video from Oliver.

The only words uttered by Forman during Monday’s proceeding were “yes, sir” when he was asked by Judge Thomas Crabtree if he understood the new timing.

Forman then stood up, turned around and knocked on the door of the little grey-painted room he was in.

A prison guard opened the door and accompanied Forman away.