Man charged in Raymond Taavel murder to keep lawyer

A man accused of killing a Halifax gay rights activist last year won’t be getting a new lawyer after all.

During a court appearance Tuesday lawyer Don Murray said that he will continue to represent Andre Noel Denny, who’s charged with second-degree murder in the April 17, 2012 death of 49-year-old Raymond Taavel.

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A preliminary inquiry was supposed to get underway last month but was adjourned after Murray said he had concerns about his client’s mental health and Denny told the court he no longer trusted his lawyer.

But Murray told a judge that after a lengthy meeting with Denny and his family Monday, he had decided to remain on the file.

Judge Bill Digby rescheduled the inquiry for July 8-10 and remanded the 33-year-old Membertou man to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth to maintain his fitness.

Taavel was beaten to death when he tried to break up an early-morning fight between two men outside a bar on Gottingen Street in Halifax.