Four witnesses were questioned in Calgary Provincial Court on May 19, the first day of a preliminary inquiry held to determine whether Airdrie-area resident Douglas Garland will go to trial for allegedly killing a Calgary couple and their grandson in June 2014.
Crown attorney Shane Parker asked for and received a publication ban from Judge Bob Wilkins on the proceedings, which means none of the testimony given by the four witnesses, nor evidence, can be reported by the media.
Friends and family of the accused and the victims filled the courtroom.
Garland, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, was expressionless throughout the day, staring for the most part in the direction of Judge Wilkins and the witnesses.
Garland, 54, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Kathy Liknes, 53, and Alvin Liknes, 66, and one count of second-degree murder in connection with the death of five-year-old Nathan O’Brien.
Young Nathan had a sleepover at his grandparents’ home in the Parkhill neighbourhood of Calgary on June 29, 2014. Jennifer O’Brien, Nathan’s mother, returned the next day to collect her son but found no one home.
An Amber Alert for Nathan’s whereabouts was issued that evening.
As has been previously reported, family and business connections link Garland with the Likneses. Allan Liknes, son of Alvin Liknes, has a common-law relationship with Garland’s sister while his father and Garland were involved in a business deal that apparently eventually soured their relationship several years ago.
On July 5, 2014, Garland was taken in for questioning by the Calgary Police Service (CPS) while a search was launched of his parents’ acreage northeast of Airdrie, where Garland lived.
CPS and RCMP officers returned to the site on March 29 to once again search the property owned by Garland’s parents.
Garland has had previous run-ins with the law. In 1992 he was accused of producing amphetamines on his parents’ property, but he disappeared before facing charges in court, CBC News reported. He was later found living in Vancouver, B.C., under an assumed name.
The bodies of Kathy and Alvin Liknes and their grandson Nathan have not been found.
The inquiry is expected to last 10 days.
