More delays possible in murder case

By Delon Shurtz on February 3, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.comL

A Piikani Nation murder case will likely face additional delays after the accused’s lawyer was allowed to get off the record Tuesday.
Prominent Calgary lawyer Balfour Der withdrew from the case during a brief hearing in Lethbridge provincial court, three months after going on the record for Dustin Big Bull. An agent who appeared in court for Der Tuesday, said scheduling problems made it too difficult for the lawyer to take on a murder case.
Calgary lawyer James Wyman has replaced Der, and the matter returns to court Feb. 16. In the meantime, the accused remains in custody at the Calgary Remand Centre.
Big Bull, 37, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Tregan Crow Eagle, whose remains were found July 27, 2020, wrapped in a tarp at a dumpsite on the Piikani Nation. The teen had earlier been reported missing and was last seen on July 22.
Big Bull is also charged with one count of causing an indignity to human remains.
Der’s agent pointed out Big Bull completed a fitness assessment, and has been declared fit to stand fit.

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