Trial dates have been set for two men charged with separate murders on the west coast of Newfoundland.
Thirty-four-year-old Justin Paul Campbell and 50-year-old Blair Christopher Walsh were both arraigned in Corner Brook Supreme Court on Monday.
Both have pleaded not guilty and have chosen to be tried by a judge and jury.
Campbell was charged with first-degree murder after the body of his grandmother, 69-year-old Eva Banfield, was found in her Deer Lake home on September 8 of last year. He’s also accused of stealing more than $5,000 from her.
It’s alleged the theft and murder occurred some time between August 30 and September 7, 2023, with the month-long trial set to start next October.
Walsh, meanwhile, was initially charged with aggravated assault after an injured man was found outside an apartment building on Wheeler’s Road in Corner Brook on the night of March 28 last year.
But the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder when the victim, 59-year-old Bert Webster, died a short time later of his injuries, believed to have been sustained in some kind of fight.
Walsh’s two-week trial is set for next June.
Neither Campbell nor Walsh, who remain in custody, appeared in court yesterday for their arraignments.
Nor were they required to be, with designations filed allowing their lawyers to appear on their behalf.