Canada’s “most wanted man,” as his defense lawyer called him, appeared in Cranbrook Provincial Court this morning, Sept. 14.

Randall Hopley, 46, appeared, shackled, before Judge Grant Sheard in Courtroom 143, packed to standing room with journalists and onlookers, on charges including kidnapping and break and enter.

After conferring with Crown Counsel Lynal Doerksen and defense lawyer William Thorne, Sheard set Hopley’s next court appearance, a bail hearing and possibly an arraignment, for Nov. 9 at 9:30 a.m. at the Cranbrook courts. Hopley will not be in attendance at the hearing and will instead appear via a video feed.

Thorne said outside the courtroom that Hopley won’t appear because of the discomfort of traveling back and forth from the remand centre in Kamloops or the Lower Mainland. He said he suspected that his client would be housed at the Kamloops facility and noted that he feared for his safety.

“I mean, he was Canada’s most wanted man for five days,” Thorne said to a media scrum, unusual for its size for this region.

Prior to the court appearance, the area outside the courthouse was surrounded by media vans and reporters from Alberta and B.C. About a dozen reporters peered through the narrow slats of the back prisoner entry of the courthouse, waiting for the Court Sheriff’s truck to appear.

When it did appear and backed into the small compound, reporters jumped to work, some calling out “Randy” in an attempt to get him to show his face, which was buried into his blue shirt.

While in court, Hopley, unshaven, stared blankly ahead toward Judge Sheard, blinking slowly, his shoulders sagging.

Thorne told Sheard that Hopley agrees to a psychiatric evaluation and also agrees to being remanded in custody until Nov. 9.

Following the court date being set, Hopley was led out of the courtroom, shuffling awkwardly from the shackles and perhaps from injuries sustained when he was captured by a RCMP canine unit.

Hopley was captured at about 10 a.m. yesterday, Sept. 13, after he fled from a cabin near the Crowsnest Pass Bible camp. A police dog corralled him in a nearby gravel pit.

Outside the courthouse, after Hopley had been removed for the trip to Kamloops, several people lingered, including one woman with a placard over her head declaring that the death penalty should be reinstated. She told a news reporter that she believed Hopley should be “hung” for his acts. “He’s guilty,” she declared.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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