Trial postponed again for murder of 13-year-old girl found dead in B.C. park
The trial of the man accused of the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Burnaby, B.C., more than five years ago will not start until 2023.
Marissa Shen was last seen alive on July 18, 2017, at a Tim Hortons in the Metro Vancouver city. Five hours later, her body was found in Burnaby's Central Park.
Ibrahim Ali was arrested more than a year later and charged with first-degree murder. A trial date had been set for September.
Ali's trial is now scheduled to begin on Jan. 16 of next year, the B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed Monday.
"Adjournments of the trial have been necessary to accommodate various pre-trial applications which cannot be reported upon due to publication bans," spokesperson Dan McLaughlin wrote in an email.
"Although the trial is currently expected to run for three to four months the length of the trial will be impacted by the results of the pre-trial applications."
B.C.'s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has described the case as the biggest it has worked on in its history.
The RCMP initially had 2,000 persons of interest but said Ali did not become a suspect until two weeks before his arrest.
Police have not revealed what evidence put him on their radar.
Ali, a Syrian national who arrived in Canada just a few months before the killing, was 28 years old at the time of Shen's death. He has been in custody since his 2018 arrest.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.