Both the murder and assault cases of a man accused in the fatal stabbing of an RCMP officer have been further delayed.
Jongwon Ham remains in custody after having been charged with first-degree murder Oct. 18, 2022. It was on that date that Const. Shaelyn Yang was fatally stabbed during a call at Broadview Park near the Burnaby-Vancouver border.
The 31-year-old Mountie, a Richmond resident, had accompanied a City of Burnaby parks employee to the park to tell a man who had been staying in a tent to leave.
An altercation ensued, and Yang was fatally stabbed while her alleged assailant was shot but survived his injuries.
But, prior to those alleged events, there are three further allegations against Ham.
It’s alleged that, on Feb. 15, 2021, he assaulted a man in Vancouver and then resisted arrest.
He is alleged to have committed a further assault against a man in Vancouver on March 17, 2022.
That case was 1,386 days old as of Jan. 14, a case age that at least one judge has expressed concerns about.
Ham has had multiple lawyers, with Judge John Milne at one point telling him the case would move ahead with or without a defence lawyer.
The trials
The judge-alone murder trial had been scheduled to take place Nov. 12-Dec. 20., 2023.
Now, the 小蓝视频 Prosecution Service said, a case management conference has been set for Feb. 4 with no trial dates set beyond that.
Ham appeared by video before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Gregory Rideout Jan. 14.
Articling student Brittney MacBean appeared for defence lawyer David Ferguson. She sought and received an adjournment from Rideout until mid-February.
She said Ham has a “serious Supreme Court matter.”
MacBean said the outcome of the high court matter might affect what happens in provincial court.
The case was put over until Feb. 18.
