In late June, the suspect who killed a man in Calgary will know his fate

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Calgary murder suspect Colleen Dean Oxtoby will learn her fate on June 26.

That's the day attorney Jim Lutz scheduled Friday for Judge Michelle Hollins to be sentenced in the case.

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Lutz made a brief appearance in Calgary Crown Court to set the date.

While Octoby did not appear in court, Lutz asked Judge Glen Poelman to issue a judge's order ordering his client, who is in custody on other charges, to be held for Hollins' hearing.

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Octoby, 50, is charged with first degree murder in the early morning hours of July 8, 2022, in the aggravated assault of then-roommate Kevin Honish.

Crown prosecutor Gord Haight said Octoby attacked Honish and hit him in the head with a hammer at least twice as he kicked him and the dead man's girlfriend, Julianne Ballantyne, out of their home in the southeast community of Albert Park.

Honish was hospitalized a few hours after leaving the residence and died on July 16 from severe brain injuries.

Ballantyne said Honisch, who appeared to have suffered a fresh head injury, was bleeding and entered the living room to find Octoby standing over him.

Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Akmal Kutzi-Khan said the deceased's brain injury was caused by blunt force trauma and may have been caused by a hammer blow.

But he admitted under cross-examination by Lutz that it could have been the result of falling on something that caused two crescent-shaped gashes on his head.

Lutz also said Ballantyne's evidence was unreliable because he was high on fentanyl at the time of the incident.

Hollins, the attorney, argued he should have accepted the evidence of his client's then-fiancé, Rachel Harkis, who said Honish was fine when she and Ballantine left the residence after the two men argued.

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