Kelowna

Photo: RCMP

Matthew Foerster is led away by police following his arrest.

For the second time in two months, it appears the man charged in the death of an Armstrong teenager will be switching lawyers.

During a pretrial conference at the Kelowna Courthouse this morning (Jan. 17) where both counsels appeared via telephone, Matthew Stephen Foerster’s current counsel says Foerster told her he is trying to get another lawyer to represent him when his case goes to trial sometime later this year.

The matter has been put ahead to Jan. 28 in the hopes of fixing a new trial date, but that cannot be chosen until Crown counsel Iain Currie has  provided full disclosure to defence – which includes information found on a 124 GB hard drive.

Currie also told the court this morning that Mathew’s father, Stephen Roy Foerster, would play a role in the evidence to be presented in trial, according to material he has already reviewed.

Foerster has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Taylor Van Diest on Halloween night in 2011. He was arrested at a motel in Collingwood, Ont., on a Canada-wide warrant.

Van Diest was beaten to death while she walked along railroad tracks to a friend’s house. She later died in hospital.