Evidence began Monday in the preliminary inquiry of Calgary murder suspect Devon Bradley Malik, who is charged in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend last summer.
But before calling the first of an anticipated 19 witnesses over the course of the scheduled five-day hearing, Crown prosecutor Greg Piper told Justice Heather Lamoureux that defence counsel Jim Lutz will not be contesting his client’s committal to trial.
A preliminary inquiry is to determine whether there is some evidence for a jury to consider and is a low bar for the prosecution to pass.
Lutz also asked Lamoureux to order a publication ban on the evidence being presented by Piper and co-prosecutor Ryan Foran, a common request by the defence in preliminary hearings.
The Calgary Court of Justice judge granted the mandatory order.
Malik, 27, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 19, 2025, fatal shooting of his estranged girlfriend, Madisson Cobb, who was killed that afternoon in a parking garage near the Macleod Trail S.W. LASIK MD clinic where she worked.
At the time of the shooting Malik was under a court order not to have contact with the Okotoks resident or attend her place of employment.
A month before her death Cobb, 23, was granted a restraining order by Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Eleanor Funk after filing a sworn affidavit expressing her fear for Malik, with whom she dated for nearly a year before breaking up with him in January 2025.
“The RCMP made us aware that Devon has a firearm that they were unable to find, and Devon confirmed that he had one when speaking to me,” the slain woman said in her statement.
She said her ex-boyfriend had been inundating her with messages and calls since they broke up Jan. 28, 2025.
In her affidavit seeking a restraining order, which was granted last June 10, and prohibited the accused from being within 100 metres of Cobb as well as her Okotoks home and her workplace, Cobb indicated she feared the man would harm her.
“This past month I have been living in fear, shake and have panic attacks when I’m out or hear my phone go off out of fear he is there,” she wrote.
Following an early court appearance by Malik last July, one of his aunts, who asked not to be named, said the family did all they could to help Cobb distance herself from the accused.
“All she wanted was for Devon to get help,” the aunt said.
Malik remains in custody pending trial.