Trial set for spring of 2023 for man charged in Lynn Valley stabbing attacks

As the community of North Vancouver marks one year from the date of a stabbing spree that left one woman dead and six others injured at the Lynn Valley library plaza, dates for a trial have been set in B.C. Supreme Court for spring 2023 for the man facing charges in the case.

Yannick Bandaogo, 29, faces one charge of second-degree murder as well as five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated assault in relation to the stabbings of seven people that occurred at the Lynn Valley Village library complex on March 27, 2021.

Trial dates in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster have now been set for an 11-week trial that will run between May 1 and July 14, 2023.

Bandaogo has elected to be tried by judge alone, without a jury.

The case is proceeding by a direct indictment, skipping a preliminary hearing stage in provincial court.

The prosecution can opt for direct indictment in certain circumstances, such as when a preliminary hearing might result in undue delay in the case or present logistical challenges because of the complexity of the case.

In the Lynn Valley case, the volume of evidence, large number of victims in the case, as well as the large number of potential witnesses and fact that most of the evidence will be translated into French were all factors in the decision, said Crown prosecutor Jean-Benoit Deschamps outside of court.

Those factors, along with the availability of lawyers and Francophone interpreters, are also among the reasons it will take two years before the case ends up before a judge and why the trial is expected to take more than two months to complete.

It is still possible the trial may be shortened if the prosecutor and defence agree to enter certain agreed-upon admissions about what happened that day.

Outside the court, defence lawyer Georges Rivard said it is still far too early to say what Bandaogo’s defence might be.

Bandaogo remains in pre-trial custody, where he has been held for the past year since his arrest at the scene.

On March 27, 2021, just before 1:40 p.m., the North Vancouver RCMP received a report of multiple victims of a stabbing at Lynn Valley Village. When officers arrived at the scene, they found multiple victims in and around the library complex, suffering from stab wounds. One woman later died of her injuries.

Homicide investigators said shortly after the stabbings they didn't know what motivated the knife attack.

Bandaogo was charged with second-degree murder on March 28, 2021 and additional charges were sworn against him in September.

He has not yet entered a plea to any charges.

Bandaogo's trial will be held at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, where all French language trials are heard.

Bandaogo also faces a charge of assaulting a peace officer on May 6, while he was in custody at North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre.