The Kelowna man accused of killing his wife and two young daughters will be in court today.
It’s been a year since Jacob Forman was arrested for murder, but his trial has been slow to take shape, in part because of the changes in legal counsel.
Forman aquired new defence lawyer Ray Dieno late last year, and Dieno asked the court to put the case over four weeks as he reviews the disclosure in the case.
The last time they were in court, Dieno said the trial “wouldn’t be any less than four to six weeks.”
Forman is facing two charges of first degree murder relating to the deaths of his elementary school age daughters, Karina and Yesenia Forman. The charge relating to the death of his wife Clara Forman is second degree murder.
The crime that’s alleged to have taken some time between Dec. 17 and Dec. 21 2017 shocked the neighbourhood where the family lived and were found. The family showed no signs of distress, area residents told the Capital News. But no one was more hard hit than the friends and family of the Formans.
Barry Forman is a cousin to Jacob, but mostly spent time with the family through their shared church.
“We just don’t know what happened,” he said, adding that even when the truth is revealed, it won’t change anything with the outcome being permanent, heart-breaking and impossible to process.
“(Clara) had a real zest for life, she loved her work at GoodLife Fitness — it was important to her— and she was a wonderful mother. They were both amazing parents, I know that’s strange to say now.”
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The court process that may offer insight into what happened has been slow, with nearly a dozen appearances by Forman and very little information being released.
Most recently, the court heard that Forman has changed legal counsel and the case that was supposed to go to pre-trial before the end of the year will be put off until 2019.
Forman, as has become common in each court appearance, appeared via video with his head bowed, saying very little.
Clara Forman was originally from Mexico and worked at GoodLife Fitness, she wrote on Facebook that she met Forman 12 years ago.
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“Met in January, started dating in July, engaged Oct. 27 married three weeks later on Nov. 11 at sunset. When I married Jacob Forman I left everything I knew to come to Canada and build a life,” she wrote, Nov. 11, 2015.
“God blessed our feeble efforts with good jobs, good friends, a great church family and most importantly, two of the best little humans a couple of people could ask for. Ten years later you are still the person I want to grow old with.”
Forman has no previous criminal record in B.C. A plumber, he was raised in Quesnel and social media indicates he may have lived in Vernon.
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