A court date has been set for Joseph Simpson. He will be back in Supreme Court in Quesnel on May 1 to fix a date for the start of his trial. He is the accused in the death of Carmelita Abraham of the Takla Nation. He was the subject of a preliminary inquiry that ran from April 12-14 in Quesnel. Simpson has been charged with murder and interference with a dead body.
A publication ban was imposed on the contents of the preliminary hearings, which is standard practice in the trial process.
Carmelita, 33, had been the focus of a missing persons investigation beginning Jan. 4, 2022 when the Williams Lake RCMP received a missing persons report from her family. Investigators were able to confirm that Carmelita left Williams Lake for Quesnel on Dec. 27 or 28.
On Jan. 10, 2022 investigators from the BC RCMP-North District Major Crime Unit attended Quesnel and took conduct of the investigation with assistance from the Quesnel and Williams Lake RCMP, Cariboo Crime Reduction Unit, the North District General Investigation Section and Forensic Identification Sections.
At the time, Mounties said Simpson and Abraham were known to one another. The Willow Inn in Quesnel was the focus of the investigation.
READ MORE: Murder victim Carmelita Abraham remembered as caring, unique by Williams Lake neighbour
READ MORE: Preliminary inquiry into murder of Carmelita Abraham set for April in Quesnel
