From Ian Fairclough with The Chronicle Herald:
A 55-year-old man accused of killing music teacher Esther Jones in Kings County a year ago will go right to trial after the Crown filed a direct indictment in the case.
Crown attorneys Shawna MacDonald and Scott Morrison filed the paperwork Aug. 8 in the case against Dale Allen Toole. Doing so bypasses the need for a preliminary inquiry, which had been scheduled for five days in late November and early December of this year.
Toole is charged with first-degree murder in Jones’s death. The charge automatically triggers a trial before a judge and jury.
“Direct indictment certainly moves the matter along in Supreme Court, rather than having to await the results of a preliminary inquiry,” MacDonald said outside court.
A preliminary inquiry happens in provincial court.
“There are many reasons why you might prefer an indictment. . . . We do have a policy on it and do it when we feel it’s appropriate to do,” MacDonald said.
Still, filing the indictment didn’t make getting an early trial date a lot easier.
The two defence lawyers, two Crown attorneys and the judge couldn’t get their calendars to mesh until late November 2026. The trial is scheduled for five weeks.
The two sides held a pre-trial conference for about an hour Tuesday in front of Kentville Supreme Court Justice Gail Gatchalian, during which they ironed out a few details on how the case will proceed once the trial gets underway. There are still a couple of hearings to wrap up other issues before a jury is selected and the trial gets underway.
About 20 people, all family members of Jones, were in court for the hearing.
Police allege Jones was killed at the former Kingston Bible College Academy property in Greenwood on Aug. 31, 2024. Her body has not been recovered.
She was reported missing Sept. 2 and was last seen Aug. 31.
Toole was arrested on Sept. 12 at Pearson Airport in Toronto after getting off a flight from Texas. He had been located at the Houston airport in Texas and was destined for Mexico. RCMP were calling the airport there to advise there was a warrant for Toole’s arrest after the investigation pointed them in that direction.
American border officers at the airport in Houston had already identified Toole as requiring further screening and deported him, refusing him entry to the United States and putting him back on a flight to Canada.
Toole remains in custody.
Photo Source The Chronicle Herald / Ian Fairclough.
