A North Battleford man accused of murdering another North Battleford man elected to be tried by judge and jury and a trial was set for 2021.
Nicholas Buck, 23, has been in custody since his arrest July 2019, in connection to the murder of Mark Douglas Jonson, 61.
According to North Battleford RCMP, they found a deceased man in a home on the 1500 block of 100 Street on July 5, 2019. The victim was later identified as Jonson.
RCMP Major Crime Unit North, North Battleford and Forensic Identification Services investigated.Police arrested David Keller, 48, on July 11, 2019, and issued a warrant for Buck, who was arrested on July 13, 2019. Buck and Keller were both charged with first-degree murder.
An obituary for Jonson said he started his life on a farm in Meeting Creek, Alta., and farming roots ran deep throughout his life as he sought to work and live on farms whenever possible. Not long before Jonson was murdered, he went to Hamilton, Ontario, to be part of the National Conference to End Homelessness.
Keller has a pretrial conference scheduled on Aug. 7, 2020, which are closed to the public.
In April 2020 Buck consented to go straight to trial and waived his right to have a preliminary hearing in North Battleford Provincial Court.
Buck’s first-degree murder trial by judge and jury is scheduled at Battlefords Court of Queen’s Bench from Feb. 22 to March 5, 2021.
