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Trial set for accused Airdrie killer Michael Roebuck

The trial for accused killer and Airdrie resident Michael Roebuck is set for Oct. 11 to Oct. 25, 2022.
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An October 2022 trial has been set for Airdrie resident Michael Roebuck, accused in the fatal shooting of Daniel Macdonald in September 2019.

After initial delays in the fall of 2021, trial dates for accused killer and Airdrie resident Michael Roebuck have been set for Oct. 11 to Oct. 25 this year, after the case appeared before Criminal Appearance Court on Friday, Feb. 4 at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary.

Roebuck, now 61, was charged with first-degree murder after he was accused of fatally shooting his neighbour Daniel Macdonald, 59, on Sept. 7, 2019 in the Canals District in Airdrie. 

The two-week trial is set to take place in October with re-election for a judge-alone trial.

Prior to the trial, a bail hearing for Roebuck will take place on April 14 for one full day, according to Roebuck’s defence lawyer, Krysia Przepiorka.

On Sept. 7, 2019 at around 5:00 p.m., police responded to shots being fired and Macdonald was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Roebuck faced a first-degree murder charge, as well as a lesser charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of MacDonald.

The two both lived on Canals Close in the Canals District in Airdrie. According to Airdrie RCMP's press release issued shortly after the murder, the two knew each other and the shooting was premeditated.

The trial got underway on Nov. 1, 2021, but Roebuck's former defence lawyer, Kim Ross, told the judge he and Crown Prosecutor Joe Mercier had negotiated a deal for Roebuck to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder. 

Justice Rosemary Nation accepted the plea deal, and set Nov. 4, 2021 as the sentencing hearing – a day the court was supposed to hear victim impact statements and an agreed statement of facts. 

However, despite the accepted guilty plea, Roebuck refused to sign the agreed statement of facts when the court reconvened on Nov. 4, 2021. That led to Ross requesting the guilty plea to be struck and for a new trial date to be determined. Ross then stepped down as Roebuck's lawyer due to the "breakdown in the source-client relationship."


Masha Scheele

About the Author: Masha Scheele

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