Judge to rule if woman to be released pending murder trial
Megan Ethel Marten charged with second-degree murder in death of 32-year-old Kyla Cindy Lapointe
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A Fredericton woman set to stand trial for murder in 2025 had a detention review on Tuesday and is now waiting for the judge’s decision on whether she should be released or continue to be held in jail until her trial.
Megan Ethel Marten, 38, Dylan Alexander Jackson, 28, of Doaktown, and Dana Livingston Mundell, 49, of Fredericton, are all charged with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Kyla Cindy Lapointe on July 11, 2023, in Moncton. Their judge and jury trial is set for March 24 to April 11, 2025, in the Court of King’s Bench.
Marten previously had a bail hearing and Chief Justice Tracey DeWare ordered her detained on Sept. 25. But she has applied to the court for another review and a hearing was held on Tuesday before Justice Maya Hamou. Marten was in the prisoner’s dock for the half-day hearing, with Brian Munro defending her and Patrick Wilbur representing the Crown.
None of the evidence presented during the hearing, nor any arguments made can be reported due to a publication ban imposed by the court, designed to prevent information about the case from being made public and tainting the jury pool.
At the end of the hearing, Hamou said she intends to prepare a written ruling in the near future.
“I will try to do it timely because I know you’re waiting for a decision Ms. Marten,” the judge told the accused.
New Brunswick RCMP’s Major Crime Unit said in a news release last July that it was investigating the death of a 32-year-old woman as a homicide.
On July 11, 2023, at 2:45 a.m., members of the Codiac Regional RCMP responded to a report of a disturbance on Belleview Street and when police arrived they located a woman in the street who was suffering from multiple stab wounds. The woman was transported to hospital where she later died as a result of her injuries.
Police said in the news release that a short time later they stopped a vehicle that had been observed near the scene in connection with the investigation and arrested three people.
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