The man accused of murdering Adam Cormack is close to finding a new lawyer.

Edward James Penner appeared in court on Thursday before Justice Suzanne Duncan.

She wanted to hear an update of Penner’s attempts to find a new lawyer after his previous counsellors, Jennifer Cunningham and Joni Ellerton, had to resign from the case on April 16.

Cormack, 25, was found dead west of Whitehorse, just north of the Old Alaska Highway, on June 28, 2017. Penner was arrested the following month.

Lynn MacDiarmid, appearing on behalf of Yukon Legal Aid, told the court Thursday she has extended the search to lawyers outside the territory.

She said there is a lot of interest, including from a lawyer in Calgary.

MacDiarmid asked for the matter to be adjourned for a couple of weeks. That would enable the Calgary lawyer to obtain a certificate to practise law in the Yukon and be retained by Penner. That lawyer still needs to talk to Penner and the Crown.

MacDiarmid said she would be willing to return to court if Duncan wanted to hear an update sooner, but she preferred having more time.

Duncan said she would rather wait the extra time to learn more details. She recognized that there has been progress and was willing to grant an extra week.

Crown prosecutor Paul Battin confirmed that this potential new lawyer contacted him about the case before court began on Thursday. He said he referred the lawyer to the Crown handling the file. He was not opposed to the longer adjournment.

Duncan set Penner’s next date as May 7.

This could be the third legal team to represent Penner.

Earlier this year, Gordon Coffin and Amy Steele withdrew from the case due to an unspecified problem.

Coffin and Steele had represented Penner through his preliminary hearing last year.

Cunningham and Ellerton picked up the case soon after.

Penner is from Quesnel, B.C.