The man accused of killing three people in Crowsnest Pass last September will face a seven-week trial before a judge and jury.

A judge in Lethbridge set the trial’s start date for May 8, 2017.

Derek Saretzky, 22, was originally charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Terry Blanchette, 27, and his two-year-old daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette last September.

In April, he was given an additional first-degree murder charge in the slaying of Hanne Meketech, 69, of Coleman. Her death occurred five days before the others.

An autopsy confirmed Meketech’s death was a homicide, but her cause of death was never released.

The Canadian Press is reporting that Saretzky, who appeared via CCTV from the Calgary Remand Centre on Monday, said, “Yes I do” when asked by the judge if he understood what was happening in the proceedings.

He entered a plea of not guilty on all the charges.