A judge has ordered a Deer Lake man to stand trial for first-degree murder in the death of his grandmother almost exactly one year ago.
The decision was handed down this afternoon in Corner Brook provincial court following a preliminary inquiry which. in the judge’s determination, found sufficient evidence to send the case to trial.
Thirty-four-year-old Justin Campbell is accused of killing his grandmother, 69-year-old Eva Banfield, whose body was found in her Deer Lake home on Upper Nicholsville Road on September 8th of last year.
Within hours, the Mounties arrested Campbell and charged him with first-degree murder, and theft of more than $5,000 from her.
It’s alleged the theft and murder occurred some time between August 30 and September 7, 2023.
Campbell has been in custody since his arrest, making court appearances by video from jail in Bishop’s Falls, but he was physically in the courtroom for his preliminary inquiry.
The details and evidence revealed during the inquiry remain banned from publication as the case proceeds.
Campbell remains in custody pending arraignment in Supreme Court.