Python deaths preliminary hearing to run until Friday

A four-day preliminary hearing began onTuesday for the owner of an African rock python that killed two brothers in Campbellton in 2013.

Ex-pet store owner Jean-Claude Savoie is charged with criminal negligence causing death. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Savoie was not in court on Tuesday, as the hearing began before provincial court Judge BrigitteSivret.

Savoie's lawyer, LeslieMatchim, told reporters that's because Savoie's been excused from appearing on special conditions.

Those conditions and any evidence presented in court is covered by a publication banat the request of the defence.

MatchimsaidSavoieand his son were close to Noah and ConnorBarthe, and are having a hard time.

Connor Barthe, 6, and Noah Barthe, 4, were killed by the large snake while they were sleeping in Savoie's apartment above his unlicensed zoo and pet store.

The python escaped from its enclosure and ended up falling through the ceiling into the room where the boys were sleeping and asphyxiated them.

Savoie has elected to be tried by judge and jury if he is ordered to stand trial following the preliminary hearing.

The preliminary hearing is expected to last until Friday, when Sivret will decide if there is enough evidence to go to trial.