A preliminary hearing is underway in Saskatoon Provincial Court for a man charged in a six-year-old homicide case in Saskatchewan.
Joseph "David" Caissie is accused of first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body in the 2011 death of his ex-girlfriend Carol King.
King disappeared on Aug. 6, 2011, near Herschel, Sask. Her car was found days later in a slough east of her home, and later that month her remains were found a few kilometres from where the car was recovered.
She was 40 years old. King moved to the Prairies from the East Coast a few years prior to her death.
Her house was damaged in a fire a few months after she disappeared. RCMP said at the time the fire was likely set deliberately.
A mysterious memorial was also erected a few months after the death. Someone put up a granite stone bearing a cross on an abandoned property in the area.
A passage on the memorial read: “The Lord he came and got me, and took me far away. Remember, I wasn’t in my body when the Devil came to play.”
It also stated: “Please don’t give him your hate, he’s not worth it.”
Caissie, who is from Bluffton, Alta., spoke with CTV News a few days after the fire. He said he had nothing to do with the death and the strange circumstances surrounding it.
The contents of the preliminary hearing are subject to a standard publication to ensure the accused gets a fair trial. The judge will determine if enough evidence exists in the case for Caissie to stand trial. The hearing is scheduled to wrap up on May 5.
--- with files from The Canadian Press
