The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed Kirk Keeping’s latest appeal.
Keeping is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his ex, 28-year-old Chantal John, and trying to kill her mother, in Conne River in early 2019—almost five years ago.
He was arrested the next day, maintaining his innocence in what witnesses have described as “a horrible act of violence.”
The 40-year-old has been fighting for a private counsel to be paid by the province since firing his Legal Aid lawyers the day before his trial two years ago.
(Kirk Keeping appears in the Court of Appeal by video from HMP May 9, 2023. File photo.)
That led to delays as he exhausted his appeal options all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada—which today dismissed his final bid, denying his request to appeal, and upholding this province’s Appeal Court ruling.
The details of his appeal, and the reasons for it, are part of a publication ban since it could taint a jury and cause more delays.
The high court’s ruling today should clear the way for his trial to finally begin in April of next year—either with a Legal Aid lawyer, or representing himself.
Keeping, whose appearance has changed dramatically from clean-cut to disheveled since his arrest, remains in custody pending trial in the new year.
