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Judge postpones 'Internet Black Widow' case until August

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Jul, 2016 01:04 PM

HALIFAX — The case against the "Internet Black Widow," the elderly woman who gained notoriety for killing and poisoning men who were her intimate partners, has been postponed another month.

The lawyer for 80-year-old Melissa Shepard appeared in Halifax provincial court Monday and asked that the case be delayed to give the Crown more time to turn over evidence.

Mark Knox said the defence would enter a plea when the case returns to court on Aug. 4.

Crown lawyer James Giacomantonio said the prosecution had been held up because the initial investigator had been involved in an accident and had to be reassigned.

Police have alleged Shepard violated the terms of a peace bond in April after an officer spotted her using a computer at Halifax Central Library.

She was charged with three counts of breaching a recognizance, including a ban on accessing the Internet.

Shepard was released March 18 after having served a full sentence of just under three years for spiking newlywed husband Fred Weeks's coffee with tranquilizers in 2012.

A court imposed 22 conditions on her, including that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

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