A judge has denied a request for psychiatric assessments for two people accused of murdering Catie Miller last summer.
Kelly Amanda MacDonald, 33, and Jason James Johnson, 29, both of Lawrencetown, N.S. are charged with first-degree murder and indecently interfering with a dead human body.
They made a brief appearance at Dartmouth provincial court Wednesday morning but the judge denied their lawyers’ request for a 30-day psychiatric assessment until a medical opinion could be provided.
"I did have detailed conversations with my client and I have concerns about her well-being at the moment the offence was committed," says MacDonald's lawyer, Pavel Boubnov.
"As an officer of the court, I raised that issue with the court. The court provided me with an order for an assessment and that's the whole purpose," says Johnson's lawyer, Ray Kuszelewski. "I'm going to get an assessment to tell us whether or not we need an assessment, which seems to tbe beating the bush here for no good reason."
The Crown has asked if MacDonald and Johnson could be tried together, but the defence wants more disclosure before a decision is made.
Miller, a 29-year-old mother of one, was last in contact with her family on July 15, 2014 and reported missing from her Dartmouth home a few days later.
Police searched four locations, including two in Lawrencetown, one in Goffs and one in Sheet Harbour Passage, in connection with the investigation into Miller’s death in November.
Her body was found at one of the crime scenes, although police have not said which one.
MacDonald and Johnson remain in custody and are due back in court in April.
A third person, 30-year-old George Edward Hubley of Sheet Harbour, is charged with accessory to murder after the fact and indecently interfering with a dead human body.
