Accused in B.C. murder, castration case loses another set of lawyers

The Kelowna woman charged in a 2021 murder and castration case has lost another set of lawyers.

On Wednesday, Gabriella Sears appeared in court as her lawyers withdrew themselves as counsel of record, a representative for the BC Prosecution Service said Thursday.

Charged with the second-degree murder of Darren Middleton, Sears fired her first set of defence attorneys in November 2023, and then another stepped down shortly after that.

As a result of the application to withdraw from being counsel being granted, the second-degree murder trial dates already set for July and August have been cancelled.

Now, the BC Prosecution Service said the court has ordered to appoint counsel to represent Sears and new dates should follow.

2:18 Kelowna murder suspect deemed fit for trial

Sears’ next court appearance is on July 9, when a case management conference is scheduled to confirm that counsel has been appointed.

At that time, the prosecution service said it expects to reschedule the trial dates, set a fitness hearing and set any subsequent case management conferences that may be required.

Running in the background of these issues is the fact that Sears, a transgender woman, has applied for a name change.

Where that stands won’t be known until her counsel applies for a legal name change.

“The BCPS has not received notice of a legal name change; accordingly, the indictment remains in her current legal name: Dereck Donald Sears, also known as Gabriella Sears,” the BC Prosecution Service spokesperson said.

The trial hasn’t made much progress since Sears’ first set of lawyers were fired, weeks into a trial that laid out gruesome details about Middleton and his final hours.

During a pre-trial voir dire, Sears claimed she was the victim of an assault and that precipitated her fatal attack on Middleton.

At that time, her then-lawyer, Jordan Watt, successfully argued her jailhouse confession to the killing should be ousted from the evidence the Crown could draw on for its case.

Before the trial went off the rails, the judge heard from RCMP officers and witnesses about the crime and repeatedly looked at video from the scene.

The court heard that a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and box cutter were found next to the body of Middleton on June 17, 2021. His body was found lying next to a tub in Sears’ home.