Ewen Macdonald, accused of killing Feilding farmer Scott Guy, his brother-in-law, was back in court in Palmerston North today.
At the conclusion of the eight-minute appearance, where he again did not look toward the public gallery where some Guy family members were seated, Macdonald was remanded in custody to appear before the High Court in Palmerston North on August 3.
No plea has yet been entered. Judge Les Atkins imposed a blanket suppression on information pertaining to other matters.
This was in the interests of preserving the principles of a fair trial for Macdonald, he told the court.
The lawyer for the accused, Greg King, had called for the suppression and crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk agreed.
Macdonald, a 30-year-old father of four married to Scott Guy's sister Anna, again stood impassively during the hearing for a case review and plea evaluation. He was clean-shaven and tidily dressed.
The accused has been in custody since his arrest on April 7.
Guy, a 31-year-old Feilding farmer and father of two was shot and killed in the driveway of his home in the early hours of July 8 last year.
Bryan Guy, Scott's father, was among those in the public gallery today, but through a police spokesman said he would be making no further comment until after any trial was held.
Macdonald's arrest left the victim's family stunned. He was a pallbearer at Scott Guy's funeral and Scott was the best man at Macdonald's wedding.
The Guy family returned to Feilding only yesterday, having been in Tauranga attending the funeral of Scott Guy's cousin, Andy Marshall.
Mr Marshall died after being thrown through a second-storey window of a bar in Perth, Western Australia, earlier this month.
