Frustration boiled over for the mother of a murdered Oshawa teenager Tuesday when a man charged in connection with the case appeared in court to request yet another adjournment, then played cagey when pressed on when he plans to hire a lawyer.

Shanan Dionne, mother of slain teenager Rori Hache, stormed from a courtroom after Adam Strong said for the third week in a row he hasn’t hired a lawyer. He asked to received another weeklong adjournment, but was evasive when a justice of the peace asked if he expected to have counsel in place by then.

“I’m not ready to say that,” Strong, 45, said as his video appearance drew to a close Feb. 13.

Outside the courthouse a visibly upset Dionne said she’s run out of patience with Strong’s apparent stalling.

“This community wants answers,” she said. “I don’t even know how my daughter died.

“What I do know is that my daughter is waiting to be put to rest. And I do know my family is destroyed.”

Strong has been in custody since late December of 2017, when police acting on a tip found the remains of 18-year-old Rori Hache in his basement apartment on McMillan Drive in downtown Oshawa. He is charged with indecent interference with a dead body.

Hache, 18, disappeared in August 2017. A few weeks later her torso was discovered in the waters of Oshawa Harbour. Although police have declared her death a homicide, no murder charge has yet been laid.

Dionne has been at all of Strong’s court appearances since early January, and there is always a significant contingent of people there in support. Strong has appeared each time by video link, at one point citing “security concerns” through a duty counsel lawyer.

Although his Legal Aid application was approved in early January Strong has not yet hired a lawyer. This Week has learned he’s had discussions with at least two local lawyers.

Dionne has consistently kept her composure, even as she has indicated her belief that Strong is responsible for Rori’s death. But Tuesday’s video appearance brought her to the end of her patience.

“I am trying to put my daughter to rest gracefully,” she said. “And here he sits, getting three meals a day.”

Dionne said court officials ought to be pressing Strong to move the case along.

“It’s time now,” she said.

Dionne once again voiced her confidence in Durham police, who continue to investigate the case.

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“My detectives are not the reason this case is being held up,” she said. “It’s the system.”

Strong is scheduled to appear by video in Oshawa Feb. 20.

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