Trial of Sundre man in co-worker’s killing likely to resume in June

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The murder trial of Solaimane Elbettah in the killing of his Sundre MacDonald’s co-worker will resume in June, providing his lawyer can rearrange his schedule.

Defence counsel Kelsey Sitar appeared in Calgary Court of King’s Bench on Friday on behalf of trial lawyer Pawel Milzcarek to set June 4-7 to complete Elbettah’s trial.

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But Sitar told Justice Michele Hollins those dates are contingent on another file of Milczarek’s collapsing next week.

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Crown prosecutor Joe Mercier told court that if those dates don’t work out for the defence there will have to be a lengthy delay before Elbettah’s trial resumes.

Mercier said he canvassed dates in May, July, September and October with Milczarek, but none of those will work out for the defence counsel.

“So if there’s an adjournment (of the June dates) obviously there will be a lengthy delay,” Mercier said.

Elbettah, 28, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 4, 2022, killing of his MacDonald’s co-worker, Josh Burns, 19.

Elbettah confessed to killing Burns with a machete, but Milczarek will argue his client was not criminally responsible at the time because he was suffering a mental disorder.

Last month psychiatrist Dr. Cynthia Baxter testified Elbettah suffered hallucinations and delusions, believing demons were controlling him and Burns, at the time of the killing.

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Baxter diagnosed Elbettah as suffering from schizophrenia as well as cannabis use disorder.

She said the accused’s heavy use of marijuana would have exacerbated his schizophrenia symptoms.

Baxter said Elbettah demonstrated three of five symptoms of the mental disorder while only two are required for a schizophrenia diagnosis.

She said the accused had paranoid and religious delusions which were a “fixed and false belief,” hallucinations of demons whispering to him and diminished emotional expression.

According to a statement of admitted facts the two men were working the night shift when Elbettah left the restaurant to go to the motel where he lived across the street, retrieved a large machete, returned and fatally attacked Burns.

Trial prosecutor Vince Pingitore will cross-examine the doctor when the case resumes.

KMartin@postmedia.com

X: @KMartinCourts

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