The accused in two separate killings in Langley in 2022 won’t go on trial until next year.
Justin Bos and Jason Robert William Griffiths, each facing a charge of second-degree murder in unrelated cases, are both scheduled to go before a judge and jury in New Westminster Supreme Court in 2024.
Griffiths was charged last August in the death of Nicholas Ball, who was 29 at the time of his death.
Ball’s body was found on March 29, in a partly-forested vacant lot in the 7400 block of 208th Street.
Little information has been released by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team about the murder case.
According to online court records Griffiths, who was 40 years old when he was arrested, does not have a significant criminal record in B.C.
The only court record linked to any Jason Griffiths in the area are bylaw fines recorded in Langley in 2005 and a Richmond traffic ticket in 2018.
Ball had previously been convicted of assault in 2017, and at the time of his murder, he was awaiting trial on charges of kidnapping, unlawful confinement, and aggravated assault, dating back to Aug. 29, 2017, and with the offences taking place in Langley and Dawson Creek.
Griffiths is now scheduled to appear in New Westminster Supreme Court for a pre-trial conference on Nov. 23, and his trial, before a judge and jury, is scheduled to take place from March 25 to May 3 next year.
READ MORE: IHIT charges Langley man for March murder of 29-year-old
Meanwhile, Bos won’t be going to trial for at least 11 months.
Cody Mostat, 30 at the time of his death, was found unconscious in the Highway Hotel in Walnut Grove on March 25. Police attempted first aid, but Mostat died at the scene, and IHIT began an investigation in partnership with Langley RCMP and other agencies.
Bos was arrested in September last year, almost six months to the day after Mostat’s killing.
About 37 years old at the time of the arrest, Bos had previously been found guilty of possession of stolen property and possession of a non-firearm prohibited weapon in Surrey in 2020. He was also found guilty of car theft in Langley in the same year.
He also had a record for possession for the purpose of trafficking in Abbotsford in 2012.
Now facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of Mostat, Bos is next expected in court on Jan. 15 next year for a preliminary application.
A court case has been tentatively scheduled to begin on Oct. 21, 2024, before a judge and jury.
READ MORE: Charges laid in almost six-month-old Langley killing
It is not uncommon in British Columbia for the time between murder charges being laid and the trial to take two years or more.