The man accused of causing a car crash near Whitehorse that killed a local motorcyclist and another woman has opted to have his case heard by a Yukon Supreme Court judge and jury.
Devin Edmiston, a 26-year-old man from Winnipeg, was taken into custody by the RCMP in late June of this year. Police picked him up a few days before the one-year anniversary of the fatal vehicle collision he was allegedly involved in outside Whitehorse.
The July 5, 2020, collision claimed the life of 43-year-old Travis Adams and Nicole Sanderson, a 47-year-old Winnipeg resident.
Shortly after the incident, which took place on the Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and Marsh Lake, police said that two vehicles as well as Adams’ motorcycle were involved.
Edmiston is charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death, one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and one count of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.
On Dec. 15 Edmiston appeared by phone in a Whitehorse courtroom and elected a trial by judge and jury rather than by a judge alone.
Edmiston’s lawyer Kevin MacGillivray and the presiding judge discussed the scheduling of a preliminary hearing for the new year.
Edmiston has not entered a plea to the charges yet.
A parallel civil claim launched by Adams’ common-law wife on behalf of her and her children which names Edmiston and three others including Sanderson’s estate as defendants is also ongoing.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com