The man accused of killing a Maple Ridge Mountie made a brief video appearance in court on the morning of Tuesday, April 9.
The hearing for Nicholas Bellemare was rescheduled until April 16, after he made an appearance in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court.
Bellemare is charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien.
O’Brien was killed and two other Ridge Meadows RCMP officers wounded, one by gunshot wounds, when they executed a warrant at a Coquitlam residence on the morning of Sept. 22, 2023. The warrant was the result of an ongoing drug investigation.
Bellemare was also injured in the incident. He has been in custody since the shooting.
Bellemare’s next court appearance is what is known as a fix-date appearance. Before a trial or a guilty plea, there may be months of appearances before a judge, many of which will be brief and administrative in nature.
People charged with a criminal offence are presumed innocent until the charges are proven guilty in court.
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