Busy docket: How murder trials will keep the courts busy this year

Courtrooms across Newfoundland and Labrador will be busy with 15 murder cases this year, with preliminary inquiries and trials taking up weeks at a time.

Six people were killed in the province in 2016 double the homicide total in 2015.

Preliminary inquiries are scheduled for four men accused in anabduction, robbery and murder in Conception Bay South, as well as for a father alleged to have killed his own daughter before settingfire to his Carbonear home.

Trials are expected to begin in the first half of the year for two women who were charged more than three years ago in connection withthe death of Jason Skinner in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Here are the casesbefore the courts.

Kenny, Morgan, Lucas and Connolly

Calvin Kenny, Kyle Morgan, Chesley John (C.J.) Lucas and Paul Connolly are alleged to have murdered Steven Miller, 25, in Conception Bay Southon July 30, 2016, before dumping his body at the end of a driveway several kilometres from Miller's Seal Cove home.

All four men are charged with first-degree murder, arson, robbery and forcible confinement.

• Steven Miller murder: Background on men accused of C.B.S. abduction, killing

Four weeks have been set aside at provincial court in St. John's in Julyfor a preliminary inquiry to determine if there is enough evidence forKenny, Morgan andLucas to proceed to trial.

Connolly is heading to a separate preliminary hearing in August. He faces additional charges of failure to comply with an undertaking and failure to comply with a probation order.

Connolly's preliminary hearing is also slated to last four weeksat provincial court.

Anne Norris

Norris, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Marcel Reardon, in January will be given her court date.

• Anne Norris to stand trial for 1st-degree murder in death of Marcel Reardon

Norris, 28, was arrested and charged after Reardon's body was found outside Harbour View Apartments on Brazil Street in downtown St. John's in the early hours of May 9, 2016.

His body was found beneath the back stairwell of the building. The superintendent of the property told CBC News it appeared Reardon had been"clubbed to death."

Norris went through a preliminary inquiry in November. It determined there was enough evidence to head to trial.

Pamela Pike and Wanda Ash

In the oldest murder case to work its way through the courts, Pike and Ash are accused of killing Jason Skinner in April 2013.

Although both women were arrested and charged together, they will be tried separately.

• 2 women charged with murder in Grand Falls-Windsor death

Ash and Pike arealleged to have murdered Skinner in his Grand Falls-Windsor home.

Skinner's aunt told CBC News in the days following his death that Skinner had intended to go to rehab for drug abuse.

Jonathan Henoche

Jonathan Henoche, 30,was arrested in September nearly two months after ahouse fire in Happy Valley-Goose Bay that killedwell-known volunteer andadvocate Regula Schule, 88.

Schule's death sent shock waves across the Labrador town as residents came to grips with the loss of a prominent member of the community.

• 2nd-degree murder charge laid in death of Regula Schule

Henoche is charged with second-degree murder, arson, break and enter and breach of probation.

His case will next be called at provincial court in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Jan. 10 for a status update.

Gilbert Budgell

What began as an investigation into a violent home invasion resulted in a murder charge for homeownerBudgell in April 2016.

Budgell, 53, had a chargeof attempted murder upgraded to second-degree murder after the man he is alleged to haveshot and beaten diedin hospital in St. John's.

• Gilbert Budgell, previously charged with murder, arrested in drug seizure

The second man alleged to have robbed Budgell was never charged.

Budgell was eventually released on bail but was rearrested after police said he was trafficking drugs.

Al Potter and Daniel Leonard

A major development was made in 2016in a two-year old homicide investigation, after the RCMP raided property belonging to members of the notorious Vikings Motorcycle Club.

• Vikings MC affiliated with Hells Angels, police say in wake of Project Bombard

Eleven men were arrested in relation to gang and drug activity. Potter and Leonard were charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Dale Porter, a father of two.

Porter's body was found at the end of his North River, Conception Bay North, property in June 2014.

Both Potter and Leonard, who police say are members of the Vikings, are scheduled to enter a plea to the charges against them on Feb. 17 in Harbour Grace.

Trent Butt

The death of bright-eyed five-year-old Quinn Butt in her father's Carbonear home in April 2016 shook Newfoundland and Labradorto its core.

• Father charged with murder after body of girl, 5, pulled from Carbonear house fire

Trent Buttwas charged with first-degree murder and arson.

A preliminary inquiry is slated to begin on Jan.12 in Harbour Grace.

Steven Neville

It will be Round 2 for Paradise man Nevillein Marchwhen he heads to his second-degree murder trial.

• Accused killer Steven Neville released from custody on bail

A jury found Neville guilty in 2013 of fatally stabbingDoug Flynn, 19, and theattempted murder of another man, Ryan Dwyer in 2010.

But in 2015, Canada's top court overturned his conviction for Flynn's death and the attempted murderof Dwyer, citing errors in instructing the jury.

Neville is out on bail, awaiting trial.

Brandon Phillips

Crown attorneys from Nova Scotia have been brought in to prosecute St. John's resident Phillips for his first-degree murder trial in November.

Phillips is accused of shooting Larry Wellman during a foiled armed robbery at the bar of the Captain's Quarters Hotel in downtown St. John's in fall 2015.

• Brandon Phillips will stand trial for 1st-degree murder

The case has already generated plenty of public attention becauseof Phillips's connection to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball.

Phillips was in a relationship with Ball's daughter, Jade Ball.

Six weeks have been set aside for Phillips's trial.

Graham Veitch

The pharmacy community was shaken at the sudden death of Collins, a prominent St. John's pharmacist, just a week before Christmas.

• Graham Veitch, 18, charged with 1st-degree murder of David Collins

Collins's girlfriend's son, Graham Veitch, 19, is alleged to have murdered Collins at his Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove home.

Veitch is also accused of assaulting his mother and brother, and stealing Collins's vehicle.