Man charged with killing wife, kids, makes 1st court appearance
Jacob Daniel Forman, 34, is charged with the 2nd-degree murder of his wife Clara and daughters Yesenia and Karina
ARutland man charged with murdering his wife and daughters appeared calm and alert during a brief court appearance Thursday. Jacob Daniel Forman, 34, showed no emotion and said nothing as he was ordered to have no contact with 13 individuals.
Bald-headed and dressed in a grey sweatshirt, Forman glanced around the courtroom before being led back into custody after proceedings were adjourned until Jan. 18.
“The investigation is at its early stages,” said Crown prosecutor Murray Kay, who declined further comment outside the courtroom.
Forman is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife Clara Soledad Forman, and his two young daughters, Yesenia Kate Forman and Karina Anne Forman.
He is alleged to have killed them sometime between Sunday and Tuesday. Police were called to the family’s home on Bolotzky Court late Tuesday afternoon.
Clara Forman, originally from Mexico, worked as a fitness instructor at GoodLife Fitness in Kelowna for the past seven years. Company founder David Patchell-Evans offered his sympathies in a statement to friends and family following her death and the death of her two young girls.
“She touched so many lives through the classes that she taught and through all the positive interactions she had with associates and members in our club,” Patchell-Evans said. “She will be greatly missed.”
The two girls were home schooled with the support of Heritage Christian Online School. “We’re devastated by what’s happened,” said Sara Kraushar, the program’s head of school.
“There are no words to express the grief that the friends and family of Karina, Yesenia and Clara are feeling,” Kraushar said. “Our hearts go out to them and we want to be there to help lift them up in prayer.”
The Formans were married on Nov. 11, 2005.
On the 10th wedding anniversary, Clara wrote on Facebook: “Met in January, started dating in July, engaged October 27th, married three weeks later on November 11th at sunset. When I married Jacob Forman I left everything I knew to come to Canada and build a life. God blessed our feeble efforts with good jobs, good friends, a great church family and most importantly, 2 of the best little humans a couple of people could ask for. 10 years later you are still the person I want to grow old with.”
Clara had an Instagram account that is filled with pictures of her and her girls, but there are no images more recent than October 2016. Jacob Forman’s Facebook account, which indicates he once lived in Vernon, also appeared to have been inactive for more than a year.
Outside the courthouse, Forman’s lawyer, Glenn Verdurmen of Salmon Arm, said: “This is an extremely serious, very tragic situation.”
His client, Verdurmen said, was “facing the worst possible thing you can be facing”.
Asked about Forman’s mental state, Verdurmen said: “I can’t really speak for him, but he’s obviously holding up in court today and I’m able to take instructions from him, and I’ll continue to do that as we work through this process.”
Verdurmen said he didn’t have enough instructions from Forman to know whether he intends to plead guilty or not guilty to the three murder charges, or whether Forman will undergo a psychiatric assessment before the next court date on Jan. 18.
“We have a very fair process in Canadian law and I’m going to make sure he has all his rights, and then we’ll assess it, and he’ll make the right plea at the right time,” he said.
This is an extremely serious,very tragic situation. Defence lawyer Glenn Verdurmean