Husband dies before trial for wife’s murder
Costin free on bail, but died in hospital
A West Kelowna man charged with the murder of his wife has died while out on bail.
The obituary for Kevin Douglas Blair Costin, who died Feb. 3 in Victoria hospital at age 60, does not indicate a cause of death.
Costin had been free since Dec. 24, 2019, on $10,000 bail, posted by his brother.
The judge who granted Costin bail said at the time he was confident that Costin was not a flight risk.
Bail conditions were that Costin stay with his brother in Vancouver, abide by a 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. curfew, wear an electronic monitoring device, and not use alcohol or drugs.
Costin was charged with seconddegree murder of his wife, Hazel Budiongan, whose body was found inside a West Kelowna home on Boucherie Road that was partly damaged by fire early on Nov. 4, 2015. She was 37.
Costin was arrested in May 2017 and charged with second-degree murder, arson and interfering with a dead body.
At the outset of a 2018 preliminary inquiry, Crown counsel Colin Forsyth said he planned to call 17 witnesses, including a pathologist, nurses, police, firefighters, and civilians.
After the judge at the preliminary inquiry ruled there was enough evidence for the case against Costin to proceed, his trial was scheduled to begin in July 2019.
But a change of Costin’s lawyers in late 2018 delayed the trial’s start date. Costin was granted bail on Christmas Eve in 2019.
At that time, his trial was re-scheduled for March 2020. But it was postponed again as a result of judicial cancellations and delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The obituary for Costin makes no mention of Budiongan, who had one son. It says Costin was a father to two daughters, had four grandchildren, was a Navy veteran, and had been a social worker for about 25 years.
The obituary states: “Kevin had a deep love of God and in his final days he voiced his anticipation of reuniting with his loved ones in heaven.”
Costin’s trial had been set to begin in Kelowna on May 3, B.C. Crown Prosecution service Dan McLaughlin confirmed in an email.