N.S. man accused of 1st-degree murder in court

A Nova Scotian man already serving a life sentence for a murder in the U.S. waived the right to a preliminary hearingin provincial court in DartmouthTuesday.

Glen Race, 31,is charged with two counts of first-degree murder that date back to 2007.

Race was brought to the Dartmouth courthouse Tuesday in shacklesfor what was supposed to be the beginning of his preliminary hearing.

Race is accused of killing two Nova Scotian men.

The body ofMichael Paul Knott, 44, was found on May 5, 2007 on a wooded path in southwest Nova Scotia. Race is also accused of killing Trevor Charles Brewster, 45, four days later. Brewster was found under a boardwalk at a Halifax lake.

Race was arrested May 15, 2007, at the U.S.-Mexico border and charged withthe death ofDarcy Manoron May 10, 2007,in upstateNew York.

He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for Manor's death.

Race was extradited from the U.S. in October 2010 to face charges in the deaths of Knott and Brewster.

Race has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is currently at the East Coast Forensic Hospital.

Headed to trial

"We were waiting for some disclosure that we have now received, and of course that disclosure has to be forwarded to our experts to take a look at to see if that in any way changes their opinion and we received a response back that it hasnt, said Joel Pink, Races defence lawyer.

"So now were ready to proceed."

It is expected the defence will argue Race is not criminally responsible due to his psychiatric condition.

"Weve had some discussion with council for Mr. Race and we expect that the mental health status of Mr. Race will be a front and centre issue in this trial and were preparing accordingly," said Mark Heerema, Crown prosecutor.

The Crown and defence will be in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on April 5for a pre-trial meeting.

The case is expected to take up to two months andlikely won't be heard until sometime in 2013.

Race will be back in the U.S. once the Canadian proceedings are concluded, according to a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service.