A Shawnigan Lake man who was extradited to the U.S. in October has been ordered to stand trial for the murder of a wealthy California widow almost 29 years ago.
Anthony Michael Kubica is charged with murder in the death of 78-year-old Marie Darling, whose decomposing body was discovered in California’s Coachella Valley in 1990, 24 days after she was last seen alive by a neighbour.
Kubica pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing in December. He is being held at a detention centre in Murrieta, California. His bail has been set at $1 million US.
On Monday, after the preliminary hearing, a judge found sufficient cause to hold Kubica over for trial, said John Hall, public information officer with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Kubica will be arraigned on the murder charge on March 11. Following that, a trial-readiness conference will be scheduled and a trial date set, Hall said.
Authorities in California filed the murder charge in May 2014, accusing Kubica of committing the premeditated murder of Darling on June 5, 1990.
U.S. documents revealed Darling’s feet were bound with duct tape. An autopsy found she died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
Three years after the charge was filed, the U.S. government asked Canadian officials to extradite Kubica to the U.S. to face trial.
Kubica was arrested on a B.C. Supreme Court warrant on Sept. 20, 2017, and has remained in custody ever since.
An extradition hearing took place on March 6, 2018, and the B.C. Supreme Court concluded there was enough evidence to commit Kubica to custody awaiting extradition. He was surrendered to California authorities on Oct. 4, 2018.
California Superior Court documents made public last year allege that Kubica killed Darling for financial gain.
Kubica and his wife, Connie Jo Kubica, lived in Palm Springs at the time. Investigators believe that Connie Jo Kubica was Darling’s financial adviser and had knowledge of her personal wealth.
Investigators allege Anthony Kubica emptied Darling’s bank account and used the money to pay down the mortgage on his Palm Springs home, which was facing foreclosure.
According to bank records, cash deposits made after Darling’s death allowed Kubica to cover all outstanding mortgage payments.
A year after the killing, a lawyer acting for the Darling family discovered that $184,135 US had been transferred from Darling’s Swiss bank account to the eastern Caribbean British territory of Anguilla. The National Bank of Anguilla account that received the money was opened on May 24, 1990, by Kubica, according to California court documents.
Financial records show Kubica went to the Anguilla bank and withdrew $170,000 in two transactions.
He asked the bank to transfer the remaining $130,000 to a Royal Bank of Canada account in his name.
Three years after Darling’s slaying, Riverside sheriff’s investigators searched the Kubica home in Scottsdale, Arizona. They seized receipts, including one for the purchase of duct tape in Palm Springs on June 1, 1990. They found documents for travel to Anguilla and banking documents in Kubica’s name relating to the Anguilla account.
In recent years, Kubica was behind a controversial plan to build 500 homes in the Cowichan Valley.
— With a file from Katie DeRosa
