WATCH ABOVE: The preliminary hearing for Douglas Garland begins on Tuesday. Nancy Hixt reports.
CALGARY – A preliminary hearing for the man accused of murdering a young Calgary boy and his grandparents began on Tuesday.
Douglas Garland, 55, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kathryn and Alvin Liknes, and one count of second-degree murder in the death of their grandson Nathan O’Brien.
The trio vanished from the Liknes home last June while Nathan was sleeping over — hours after his grandparents held a sale at their house in advance of a move to Mexico.
TIMELINE: Missing Calgary family Nathan O’Brien, Alvin and Kathryn Liknes
The preliminary inquiry, which is scheduled to last two weeks, is to determine whether or not there’s enough evidence to send the case to trial.
Investigators have combed through several properties north of Calgary, where Garland lived, but have never recovered the bodies of Nathan, Kathryn or Alvin.
On Tuesday, Garland appeared in court wearing a blue prison jumpsuit.
Details discussed during the inquiry are under a publication ban and cannot be reported in any form, including Facebook posts or tweets.
“I applied for a ban on publication because as this is just a preliminary inquiry, we don’t want any evidence disseminated out–should this matter ever go to trial–so there’s contamination of any evidence for some proceeding down the road,” said Garland’s defence lawyer Kim Ross.
With files from Nancy Hixt and The Canadian Press
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