An 18-year-old ward of the province cried in a Kamloops courtroom on Tuesday after learning he will spend the foreseeable future behind bars.

Tristan Olson was arrested on Feb. 15 following a high-speed car chase in Rayleigh.

Court heard the chase saw Olson, who does not have a driver’s licence, driving a white Mazda at high speeds, through stop signs, into oncoming traffic, over medians and over a spike belt.

He was arrested after a police dog found him hiding under a tarp, court heard.

In denying Olson’s bail, Kamloops provincial court Judge Len Marchand said the chase was extremely dangerous.

“His conduct puts the lives of law-abiding members of the public at risk,” Marchand said, noting there were too many potential risks involved with sending Olson to live at a foster home on bail.

At the time of his arrest last month, Olson was on bail for a separate incident in January. In that instance, court heard, Olson was arrested after police found him in the passenger seat of a stolen vehicle.

Olson has a lengthy youth record dating back to 2013. He turned 18 in December and the January charge marked the first time he had been in trouble with the law as an adult.

He will remain in custody at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre until his next court appearance, slated for March 17.

A career criminal turned police agent who snitched on his murder-accused cellmate in 2012 in exchange for $10,000 traded verbal jabs with a defence lawyer on Tuesday trying to paint him as a lying fraudster.

Peter Beckett’s first-degree murder trial continued in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops with the start of the cross-examination of a paid police informant who cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban aimed at protecting his safety behind bars.

Beckett, a 59-year-old former New Zealand politician, is accused of killing his wife, Laura Letts-Beckett, who drowned near Revelstoke in 2010.

Letts-Beckett drowned in Upper Arrow Lake on Aug. 18, 2010. Her death was initially believed to be accidental, but Beckett was charged one year later.

The Crown has alleged Letts-Beckett was killed out of greed, saying Beckett’s motive was financial. Prosecutor Sarah Firestone has told jurors Beckett stood to gain a significant amount of money in life-insurance and accidental-death benefits, as well as from Letts-Beckett’s schoolteacher’s pension.

Defence lawyer Doug Jenving started his cross-examination of the informant, Agent A, after more than a day of testimony under questioning from Firestone.

The jury has heard Agent A describe his interactions with Beckett between July and October 2012. Agent A said he contacted police after Beckett, his cellmate at a Lower Mainland jail, started talking about “eliminating” witnesses.

Agent A said he contacted police and “played along” with Beckett’s scheme. He said Beckett wanted him to murder five Crown witnesses — a police sergeant, a lawyer, his in-laws and his dead wife’s cousin — after his release from jail.

Jenving started his questioning by running through a list of more than a dozen aliases Agent A has been found to have used while committing crimes in the past. Jenving then went over the actions of Agent A over a two-week period following his Oct. 26, 2012, release from jail.

In that time, the jury has heard, Agent A was completing tasks on behalf of RCMP investigators and telling Beckett what they wanted him to say.

For instance, Agent A told Beckett he went to Westlock, Alta., and retrieved diamonds from the windshield-washer fluid reservoir of Beckett’s Jaguar — where Beckett had told them they would be. In reality, Agent A never travelled to Westlock. Instead, investigators staged a break-in and took the supposed diamonds from the reservoir.

Agent A also told Beckett he located a stash of dynamite Beckett had directed him to. In actuality, police found the explosives.

In addition to working on behalf of Mounties, Agent A was also committing crimes. The jury heard he stole an iPhone and found a wallet, the credit cards inside of which he used fraudulently.

After a series of questions about the frauds from Jenving, Agent A appeared to become frustrated.

“It’s irrelevant to this whole thing,” he said. “It’s been established that I’m a criminal. My record speaks for itself. I’ve come in here and been open.”

Jenving continued with his line of questioning.

“Is there any questions about this case that you have?” Agent A eventually shot back.

“For the moment, we’ll talk about you a bit,” Jenving replied, before implying Agent A had lied under oath at previous hearings.

“That’s your job to say that,” Agent A responded. “Up here, right now, where I’m sitting, it’s obviously not a lie.

“It’s been substantiated. . . . I’ve never even been to Westlock and the evidence was found.”

The cross-examination of Agent A was adjourned to a later date so lawyers could sort out an application. The trial is slated to resume Wednesday with evidence from a police witness.

Beckett and Letts-Beckett met in 1995 in New Zealand. Five years later, he moved to Westlock, Alta., to be closer to her. The couple married in 2003.

Previous witnesses have described their relationship as a rocky one. The Becketts split up in late 2007, but reconciled months later.

Letts-Beckett also went to police alleging physical abuse on the part of her husband, but no charges were laid.

Through her questioning, defence lawyer Donna Turko has suggested Letts-Beckett was depressed prior to her drowning.

Beckett was formerly a city councillor in Napier, New Zealand.

His trial, which began in mid-January, is expected to last three months.

A provincial court judge has backed a decision by a federal firearms official to deny a licence to a Thompson Rivers University student.

Judge Chris Cleaveley ruled Tuesday the decision made last year by a civilian RCMP employee to deny Matthew McFadden a gun licence “is based on safety, both for the public and Mr. McFadden.”

The 25-year-old university student appealed the denial by the Canadian Firearms Program. His appeal was opposed by the federal justice branch.

McFadden testified he hunted as a teen and passed both firearms-safety and hunting courses.

He was denied a licence in 2010 by the firearms program and again last year.

During his hearing, McFadden testified he comes from a rural background and wants the chance to hunt as an adult. He claimed an official with the firearms program told him he couldn’t have a gun after the October 2014 murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the Canadian National War Memorial near the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. The gunman, Michael Zehaf Bibeau, did not have a weapons licence.

The firearms official testified four of six friends and associates of McFadden said he shouldn’t be allowed a gun — one of them warning McFadden would “go postal.”

Cleaveley also said McFadden listed an email address as AK47foreverybody@hotmail.com.

McFadden’s reluctance to obtain a letter from a physician sealed the decision for both the firearms officer and provincial court judge.

“It was a reasonable decision for the firearms officer to require Mr. McFadden to provide medical information about his current health,” Cleaveley ruled.

In 2014, the RCMP program renewed or issued about 100,000 licences to possess or acquire a firearm. In the same year, it denied a new licence to about 800 people in Canada, a refusal number that has risen over the past three years.

Questionable firearms licence applications or renewals are flagged by the centre in New Brunswick. The files are sent to local employees for investigation.

The former New Zealand politician standing trial for the murder of his wife in 2010 told relatives following her death he would fight in court to get his share of her inheritance.

The 14-person B.C. Supreme Court jury in Kamloops tasked with deciding Peter Beckett’s fate listened Thursday to recordings of wiretapped phone calls intercepted by police in the months following Laura Letts-Beckett’s death.

Letts-Beckett drowned in Upper Arrow Lake, near Revelstoke, on Aug. 18, 2010.

Her death was initially believed to be accidental, but Beckett was charged one year later.

The Crown has alleged Letts-Beckett was killed out of greed, saying Beckett’s motive was financial.

Prosecutor Sarah Firestone has told jurors Beckett stood to gain a significant amount of money in life-insurance and accidental-death benefits, as well as Letts-Beckett’s schoolteachers’ pension.

In court Thursday, jurors heard a number of wiretapped phone calls made by Beckett both before and after his August 2011 arrest.

The first call played was between Beckett and Margaret Blatchford, Letts-Beckett’s aunt.

In the May 2011 conversation, Beckett tells Blatchford he’s willing to fight for his share of his wife’s inheritance.

“I’m still their son-in-law, right?” Beckett asked Blatchford.

“So, what was due to Laura is certainly due to me. I’ll challenge that in court any time.”

“You’ll challenge that in court, Peter?” Blatchford replied.

“Of course,” Beckett said. “And I believe they caused her death.”

Through her questioning, defence lawyer Donna Turko has implied Letts-Beckett struggled with depression, potentially because of issues with her family.

Beckett and Letts-Beckett met in 1995 in New Zealand. Five years later, he moved to Westlock, Alta., to be closer to her.

The couple married in 2003.

Previous witnesses have described their relationship as a rocky one. The Becketts split up in late 2007, but reconciled months later.

Letts-Beckett also went to police alleging physical abuse on the part of her husband, but no charges were laid.

Beckett was formerly a city councillor in Napier, New Zealand. His trial, which began in mid-January, is expected to last three months.

Paramedics and firefighters work in vain to save the life of Archie LePretre in March 2011.
KTW file photo

Archie LePretre

Sentencing has been delayed for one of two men who pleaded guilty in  connection to a beating that left a gang rival dead five years ago in a basketball court at a downtown Kamloops elementary school.

Anthony Scotchman will be sentenced on Thursday, March 10, after he admitted to manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Archie Lepretre.

Co-accused Travis Johnny, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. His sentencing, originally set for this month, has been delayed for preparation of a Gladue report used to detail unique circumstances of aboriginal offenders.

Both men were originally charged with one count each of first-degree murder and commission of an offence for a criminal organization — alleged to be the Redd Alert street gang — stemming from the March 22, 2011, slaying of LePretre.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, the Crown dropped the criminal-organization charges.

LePretre, 23, was playing basketball in the Stuart Wood elementary schoolyard with his cousin when he was attacked by three masked assailants wielding knives and a baseball bat, police said at the time.

Following Lepretre’s death, Mounties held a press conference at which they labelled the murder “gang-related,” saying it was the result of a conflict between members of rival criminal organizations.

Emergency crews tend to Archie Lepretre after he was stabbed on the Stuart Wood outdoor basketball court on March 22, 2011. (KTW FILE PHOTO)

ARCHIE LEPRETRE

Five years ago this month, Archie Lepretre was attacked in broad daylight and fatally stabbed while playing basketball with his cousin, a gang member, outside Stuart Wood elementary in downtown Kamloops.

The attackers, from a rival gang, were after the cousin.

Tomorrow, sentencing hearings will begin for one of Lepretre’s two killers.

KTW obtained access to court documents that tell the story of Lepretre’s violent murder — a story of forbidden love that hasn’t been told before now.

***

Archie Lepretre and Mohamod Shaa Tremblay were trapped.

The cousins were playing basketball on the outdoor blacktop in the Stuart Wood schoolyard in downtown Kamloops just before 5 p.m. on March 22, 2011 — a sunny spring afternoon with the mercury attempting to push double digits.

TREMBLAY

Three men, dressed in black and red with bandanas covering their faces, entered the fenced-in basketball court through its only gate, effectively cornering the unarmed cousins.

Each of the attackers was wearing gloves and armed — two with knives, one with a baseball bat.

Lepretre was a business-school graduate from the Lower Mainland, in Kamloops visiting family.

Tremblay, also visiting from out of town, was a tattooed member of the Game Tight Soldiers street gang.

The three assailants — later identified as Anthony Scotchman, Travis Johnny and Chris David — were from the rival Redd Alert gang and had been “hunting” GTS members in Kamloops over a period of days.

***

A baby brought the two groups together.

Scotchman, who lived in the Vancouver area, was in Kamloops for the birth of his child, who was born nine days before the murder.

The mother of the child was Tremblay’s cousin.

“Because Scotchman was a member of the RA gang and Tremblay was a member of the GTS gang, this caused tension between the two families beyond the gang rivalry,” reads an agreed statement of facts entered by lawyers into B.C. Supreme Court.

***

On the fenced-in basketball court, Scotchman and David went after Tremblay, their main target, while Johnny attacked Lepretre.

David began swinging an aluminium baseball bat at Tremblay, who was able to wrestle the weapon away and fend off his attackers.

Lepretre, meanwhile, was taking a violent beating. The 23-year-old was overcome by Johnny and suffered multiple stab wounds.

Johnny would later boast to a friend about “punching” Lepretre repeatedly with a knife in each hand before delivering a fatal stab wound to his neck.

“All three males walked out of the gate and one male told Tremblay that he needed to go take care of Lepretre,” the agreed statement of facts reads.

“They left westbound on Battle Street.”

A witness who was driving past the scene as the murder took place would later tell police he saw the three assailants, uninjured, walking toward Second Avenue.

***

An autopsy was performed on Lepretre’s body the following day.

The pathologist’s report listed two major findings.

The first was a stab wound to the left neck — a gash that caused injury to his carotid artery, jugular vein and esophagus.

Secondary were stab wounds to his scalp, the left side of his face, both sides of his chest and his left arm.

A stretcher sits on the Stuart Wood basketball court waiting for paramedics to load Lepretre into a waiting ambulance.

***

After the attack, Tremblay rushed to Lepretre, lying bleeding in the corner of the basketball court. He grabbed his cousin’s cellphone.

At 4:44 p.m., Tremblay used the phone to call 911 to report the stabbing and waited for emergency crews to arrive.

“Tremblay had blood covering both hands from about two inches from his wrists down, as well as blood on the thigh and knees of his jean shorts and on top of his shoes,” the agreed statement of facts reads.

“There was an aluminium baseball bat with blood on it lying in a pile of leaves. There appeared to be blood spatters on the west wall of the basketball court.”

Tremblay was interviewed by police. He admitted to being a GTS member and said he did not know who the masked attackers were, other than that they were Redd Alert gangsters.

In his interview with police, Tremblay said he and Lepretre were unarmed.

“When asked, Tremblay stated that neither he nor Lepretre were wearing any clothing that would associate them to GTS,” the agreed statement of facts reads.

“Tremblay went on to say that he had only been back in town a couple weeks and doesn’t think he is well-known in Kamloops. He confirmed that Lepretre is not a member of the GTS.”

***

After the murder, Scotchman returned to the Aberdeen hotel where he had been staying with Rachael Tremblay, the mother of his newborn child and a relative of Lepretre.

Rachael Tremblay told police Scotchman left between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and returned less than two hours later.

“Shortly after Scotchman returned to the Dream Lodge Suites, he changed his clothing — took off a red hoody and put on a grey collared sweater,” the agreed statement of facts reads.

“A short while later, she received a phone call telling her about Lepretre’s murder. Scotchman asked her what happened and she pushed him away, telling him to stay away from her.

“At this point, Rachael Tremblay felt Scotchman had involvement in the murder. She called a family member and left the Dream Lodge Suites.”

***

JOHNNY

Johnny had been on the lookout for rival GTS gangsters for days prior to Lepretre’s murder.

Weeks after the slaying, police obtained text messages from a phone belonging to one of Johnny’s associates, Kim Quewezance.

A text from Quewezance four days before the murder alerted Johnny to the fact GTS members were in Kamloops.

“GTS in town, bro,” the text reads.

“Just drove past us on the strip, bro. F—ing Shaw [Tremblay] and Archie [Lepretre] and some other clown.”

Johnny responded nine minutes later.

“OK, let’s do this s–t,” he replied. “I’ll grab the thing.”

The text conversation spanned hours.

“Text or call me if anything is going to go down,” Johnny wrote Quewezance.

“Yeah, I think I might know where they at, so I’m going to go scope this s–t out, yo,” Quewezance replied.

“OK, good, because it’s going down tonight,” Johnny texted.

“Still no sight of these faggots,” Quewezance texted back. “I’m still hunting, though, bro.”

***

Johnny was arrested on Dec. 6, 2013. Scotchman was taken into custody four months later.

Both men were charged with one count each of murder and committing an offence for a criminal organization.

In November, Johnny and Scotchman entered guilty pleas — Johnny to second-degree murder, Scotchman to manslaughter. The Crown dropped the organized-crime charges last summer.

Scotchman is slated to begin his sentencing hearing tomorrow. Johnny, meanwhile, is expected to learn his fate next month.

(The information in this story comes from two agreed statements of fact filed by lawyers in B.C. Supreme Court ahead of sentencing for Johnny and Scotchman. Additional materials are expected to be filed later.)

THE PLAYERS

REDD ALERT

Redd Alert is a predominantly First Nations gang that formed in Edmonton in the mid-1990s. Redd is an acronym for “Red Edmontonians Doing Dirt,” according to police. Since it was founded, the gang has spread throughout Western Canada — B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — with members taking part in home invasions, car-jackings, armed robberies, drug rips, shootings, violent assaults of rivals and murders. Redd Alert is known to have alliances with other gangs.

GAME TIGHT SOLDIERS

The Game Tight Soldiers first popped up on police radar in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in late 2007. Since then, according to police, members have been known to take part in a wide variety of crimes including threats, stabbings, intimidations, assaults, shootings and murders. The gang is not composed of a single ethnicity and is known to be affiliated with the Prince George Renegades, a puppet club for the Vancouver Eastside Hells Angels. Since 2009, GTS has been active in Prince George.

B.C.’s top court has dismissed an appeal by a support worker convicted last year of stripping and shaving the body hair of a young man passed out at his house.

A lawyer acting for Michael Hume, 48, appealed his conviction to the B.C. Court of Appeal, arguing the sentencing judge made errors in her instruction to the jury.

In June, Justice Sheri Donegan sentenced Michael Hume, 48, to three years in jail for sexual assault and unlawful confinement in connection to a bizarre incident that split the Fraser Canyon First Nations community of Lytton between sympathy for the respected support worker and community organizer and his victim, a young adult whose name is protected due to a court order.

The victim was emotional during his testimony, struggling through tears as he testified to waking up on an August morning in 2013 after a drinking session as Hume was shaving his pubic region.

Much of his body hair had been removed.

He said Hume laughed and said, “Your girlfriend will like it.”

Hume then drove the young man home, gave him $50 and warned him not to tell anyone. Hume earlier threatened him not to leave.

As part of the appeal, the defence argued a quantity of what appeared to be human hair found in Hume’s vacuum was not scientifically identified as the victim’s and the jury should not have considered it.

“In my view, the jury was well able to understand that evidence and deal with it appropriately, based on its own experience and common sense,” wrote Justice David Frankel.

During the trial, Hume denied shaving the complainant. He continues to deny the offence.

Victim-impact statements were read in court yesterday. Archie Lepretre (below) was murdered in the Stuart Wood elementary basketball court (above) on March 22, 2011. The 23-year-old happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Archie Lepretre

The sister of a man killed five years ago in a violent broad-daylight stabbing in a downtown Kamloops schoolyard broke down in tears Thursday as she read a victim-impact statement into court.

Archie Lepretre was murdered while playing basketball with his cousin, Shaa Tremblay, outside Stuart Wood elementary on March 22, 2011.

“We never had a chance to say goodbye,” Kristina Deranger, Lepretre’s older sister, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley.

“We never had a chance to tell him how much we loved him.”

Tremblay was a member of the Game Tight Soldiers street gang.

Lepretre, a recent business-school graduate, had no gang affiliation and was in Kamloops visiting family.

As the cousins played basketball, three armed members of the Redd Alert gang entered the fenced-in blacktop and began attacking them.

Tremblay escaped with minor injuries, but Lepretre suffered multiple stab wounds, including a fatal blow to his neck.

Anthony Scotchman and Travis Johnny have entered guilty pleas in relation to the slaying — Scotchman to manslaughter, Johnny to second-degree murder.

“To have his life taken from him in such a senseless and violent way will forever haunt me and all who loved him,” Deranger said.

“Archie was loved and is still loved and is missed dearly. Not one day goes by that you are not in our minds, in our prayers and in our thoughts.”

Chantal Tremblay, a cousin and adopted sister of Lepretre, said her family has been devastated by grief.

“We are now a family of broken people,” she told court, clutching a framed graduation photo of Lepretre.

“We are left to live a long, sad life without him.”

Court has heard a group of Redd Alert gangsters were “hunting” for Game Tight Soldiers members in the days leading up to Lepretre’s murder.

Some members of the rival gangs were in Kamloops to celebrate the birth of Scotchman’s baby.

The baby’s mother was Tremblay’s cousin, court heard, which increased tensions between the two sides.

Scotchman’s sentencing hearing is expected to continue Friday in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops.

Johnny will return to court on March 21 to set a date for his sentencing.

The Crown is seeking a sentence of between eight and 10 years for Scotchman.

A police handwriting expert has told a B.C. Supreme Court jury in Kamloops that address books, a hand-drawn map and a list of people to kill, according to the Crown, were penned by a former New Zealand politician now standing trial accused of murdering his wife.

Peter Beckett is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the drowning death of Laura Letts-Beckett on Upper Arrow Lake more than five years ago.

Letts-Beckett drowned in the lake near Revelstoke on Aug. 18, 2010. Her death was initially believed to have been an accident, but Beckett was charged one year later.

The Crown has alleged Letts-Beckett was killed out of greed, saying Beckett, now 59, had a financial motive.

Prosecutor Sarah Firestone has told jurors Beckett stood to gain a significant amount of money in life-insurance and accidental-death benefits, as well as his wife’s schoolteachers’ pension.

This week, jurors heard testimony from retired RCMP handwriting expert Susan MacInnis.

She said she was asked in 2013 to compare known samples of Beckett’s handwriting to a number of “specimens” — address books, a hand-drawn map, a letter and an alpha-numeric list of Crown witnesses, all of which the Crown alleges Beckett penned from behind bars.

“I look at various factors — the designs of the letters, the proportions,” MacInnis told court, testifying via video-link from Halifax. “Also spacing, placement on the page, alignment.”

MacInnis told jurors she used microscopes in her investigations, looking through glass to determine whether writing samples could be matched to one another.

She said most factors were consistent when she compared Beckett’s known samples to the pieces of writing provided by the Crown. However, MacInnis said, there were some discrepancies — notably a curved cross-bar on an H in a piece allegedly written behind bars, compared to straight cross-bars on known Beckett samples.

“It could have just been a slip of the pen,” she said.

“It could have been something he only does once in a while.”

Overall, MacInnis said, she determined the known samples matched the jailhouse specimens.

“I determined that I did have a significant combination of similarities,” she said.

The alpha-numeric list of witnesses to kill, according to the Crown, was provided by Beckett to his former cellmate in 2012, prior to his release from prison.

The coded list is alleged to have included the names of a police sergeant, a lawyer and three relatives of Letts-Beckett. The former cellmate, now a paid police agent who cannot be named, said Beckett tasked him with killing the people listed.

Through her questioning, defence lawyer Donna Turko has implied Letts-Beckett struggled with depression, potentially because of issues with her family.

Beckett and Letts-Beckett met in 1995 in New Zealand. Five years later, he moved to Westlock, Alta., to be closer to her.

The couple married in 2003.

Previous witnesses have described their relationship as a rocky one. The Becketts split up in late 2007, but reconciled months later.

Letts-Beckett also went to police alleging physical abuse on the part of her husband, but no charges were laid.

Beckett was formerly a city councillor in Napier, New Zealand. His trial, which began in mid-January, is expected to last three months.

Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham

A former ministerial assistant to Transportation Minister Todd Stone has been charged with two offences under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for his role in a complaint about deleted government emails.

A special prosecutor approved two charges against George Gretes for “willfully making false statements to mislead, or attempt to mislead” the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Commissioner Elizabeth Denham referred the case to police after Gretes testified in her investigation that he didn’t delete a series of emails from a subordinate’s computer during a search in response to a freedom of information request.

Gretes resigned in October 2015 when Denham released her report on the 2014 incident, which found Gretes had used another employee’s computer to “triple delete” a series of emails.

Stone has maintained that the deleted emails were not the official records dealing with community meetings about improving travel options along Highway 16 in northern B.C., which was the subject of the request.

The ministry has since released hundreds of pages of records about the project.

The incident prompted Premier Christy Clark to order all political staff in the government to keep all emails as the procedure for handling electronic communications is updated.

Former privacy commissioner David Loukidelis reviewed the case and recommended non-partisan public servants should decide what records should be kept and what can be destroyed as duplicate or transitory messages.

Loukidelis warned that with hundreds of millions of emails sent and received each year, trying to evaluate every message would cause the B.C. government to “grind to a halt.”

Family members of an “innocent bystander” fatally stabbed after being caught in the middle of a gang war five years ago cheered and clapped as one of his killers was handed a seven-year prison sentence in a packed Kamloops courtroom on Friday.

Anthony Scotchman was sentenced for his role in the March 22, 2011, murder of 23-year-old Archie Lepretre.

In handing down his sentence, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley called Scotchman “the catalyst” behind the “planned and unprovoked” attack that led to Lepretre’s death.

LEPRETRE

As the sentence was read, Lepretre’s relatives cheered and clapped. One of them told Scotchman to “rot in there” as he was escorted out of the courtroom by a deputy sheriff.

Scotchman, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter 17 months after he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection to Lepretre’s slaying.

Scotchman and two others attacked Lepretre and his cousin, Shaa Tremblay, in broad daylight as the two played basketball on the court outside Stuart Wood elementary in downtown Kamloops.

The attackers — Scotchman, Travis Johnny and Chris David — were members of the Redd Alert street gang. Tremblay was a member of the rival Game Tight Soldiers gang, while Lepretre, a 23-year-old business-school graduate who hoped to one day open his own restaurant, had no gang affiliation.

Scotchman and David went after Tremblay while Johnny attacked Lepretre. Tremblay was able to wrestle a baseball bat out of David’s hands and fend off his attackers, but Lepretre took a violent beating at the hands of Johnny.

Armed with a knife in each hand, Johnny punched Lepretre multiple times, leaving stab wounds in his chest, arm and head before delivering a fatal blow to his neck.

TREMBLAY

Lepretre, Tremblay and Scotchman were all visiting Kamloops from the Lower Mainland. The birth of Scotchman’s baby nine days before the murder brought members of the rival gangs to Kamloops.

The mother of Scotchman’s baby was Tremblay’s cousin, which escalated tensions between the Redd Alert and the Game Tight Soldiers.

Court heard Scotchman received a call from a Redd Alert superior alerting him to rival gangsters playing basketball at Stuart Wood. Scotchman then took his sister’s car and picked up Johnny and David before heading to the schoolyard.

“Mr. Lepretre was not part of the gang rivalry,” Dley said in delivering his sentence.

“He was no more than an innocent bystander.”

After being given credit for time served, Scotchman will have four years and two months of new time behind bars.

Scotchman had no criminal record at the time of Lepretre’s death. 

After the sentencing, Lepretre’s relatives said they were looking forward to finding out how long Johnny will spend in prison.

JOHNNY

“Now that I know he [Scotchman] got the high end, it’s kind of making me hopeful for the next one,” said Chantelle Tremblay, Lepretre’s cousin and adopted sister, clutching Lepretre’s framed graduation photo outside the Kamloops Law Courts.

The Crown had been seeking a sentence of eight to 10 years in a federal prison for Scotchman. Defence lawyer Robert Claus argued for a sentence of two years less a day in a provincial jail, noting Scotchman has already spent 23 months behind bars.

“This was not a result intended or contemplated by Mr. Scotchman,” he said, noting Scotchman’s intent was to “beat up” rival gangsters.

“As we all know, we can’t undo those things that have occurred, but he is deeply remorseful.

“Had things gone as Mr. Scotchman thought, he would be being sentenced for assault with a weapon. Instead, he’s here and he’s sorry.”

Scotchman declined to speak when ask by Dley if he had anything he wanted to say.

Johnny was arrested in December 2013. Scotchman was taken into custody in April 2014. David was never charged and is believed to be living in Manitoba. 

Johnny has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is slated to return to court on March 21 to set a date for his sentencing.

Tax time for a Barriere small business owner got a little more expensive after the Canada Revenue Agency went after him for failing to file returns for nearly a decade.

Provincial court judge Roy Dickey fined Thomas Lawford Mitchell $1,000 for failure to comply with an order from the federal agency.

Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi said the taxman caught up to Mitchell, 60, in 2014. The survey company owner failed to file a T-1 return between 2005 and 2012.

Varesi said Mitchell claimed he did not file his taxes due to health concerns and the fact he was frequently out of the country.

The CRA went to Mitchell’s home in 2014, serving him with an order file his statements of income. While Mitchell filed for the years between 2005 and 2009, he did not meet a November deadline for outstanding years of 2010 to 2012.

Last month, Mitchell was charged under the Income Tax Act for failing to comply with an order. Varesi said he has since caught up on the missing tax years.

The small business owner said his income is limited and asked for time to pay the fine. He was hit with a $22,000 tax bill as part of the recent filings.

“I’m on a very tight budget,” Mitchell told Dickey.

A trial is underway for a man accused of holding his 75-year-old ex-mother-in-law hostage and repeatedly beating her over a period of two hours before threatening to burn down her house and forcing her to sign a document forgiving his debts.

Rudolph Atzenberger is charged with one count each of forcible entry, break-and-enter, assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats stemming from an incident at his mother-in-law’s Louis Creek home in the late-night hours of Oct. 9, 2014.

The 56-year-old’s trial, in front of a 12-person B.C. Supreme Court jury in Kamloops, began on Monday with testimony from the alleged victim.

“I was sound asleep and suddenly my covers were thrown off and Rudy was standing over me,” Susan Denison said.

“He grabbed my hair and pulled me up and kind of pushed and shoved me into the living room.”

Denison said Atzenberger and her daughter lived with her for about eight months more than two years ago, so he may have had a key.

“First off, I said, ‘Rudy, what are you doing? You can’t do this,” Denison said.

“That’s when he hit me the first time.”

Denison said Atzenberger sat her down in a chair in her living room and pulled up a foot stool for himself.

“He told me to shut up,” she said. “He said I was going to do exactly what he said. He was calm, cool, collected. He wasn’t in an angry state — he was very controlled.”

Court heard Atzenberger asked Denison a series of questions ranging from family matters to finances and would hit her every time he did not like one of her answers.

“I was watching his hands,” Denison said. “He had his hands on his lap and we were practically sitting knee-to-knee, so I was watching his hands.”

Jurors heard Atzenberger forced Denison to sign a document forgiving him of debt. Crown prosecutor Iain Currie said Atzenberger threatened to burn down Denison’s house before he left, following two hours of assaults and questions.

Atzenberger is not being represented by a lawyer.

The trial is expected to conclude this week.

A young Kamloops woman who admitted to binge-drinking before leading police on a dangerous high-speed chase through a downtown residential neighbourhood last summer might avoid a criminal record.

Dakota Funk has pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court to one count each of flight from police, dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Court heard the 21-year-old hit a police roadblock heading into downtown from Valleyview just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 9.

An officer told her to pull over and await further screening, but she instead took off — first slowly creeping forward and then speeding away.

Funk failed to negotiate a left-hand turn southbound onto 13th Avenue from Columbia Street and crashed into a parked car, which was propelled more than 10 feet forward and struck another vehicle.

Once again, court heard, Funk took off.

A police officer spotted her vehicle near Pine Street and 13th Avenue and she fled again, crashing into two trees on Pleasant Street.

Funk was arrested and taken to hospital, where she received 15 stitches in her forehead for an injury suffered in one of the collisions.

She has no criminal record and no driving record, court heard. Defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen said Funk hopes to pursue a career as a nurse — something that could be impacted by a criminal record.

Jensen called his client “nothing but a contributing member of society” who had been “binge-drinking” while dealing with personal issues.

He asked for a conditional discharge and a lengthy driving ban, meaning Funk would have no record after completing a period of probation.

The Crown is seeking a $1,500 fine and a one-year driving prohibition.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Len Marchand asked for time to think about his decision.

Funk is due back in court on March 21, at which time it is expected she will learn her sentence.

A Vancouver investment firm is petitioning B.C. Supreme Court for foreclosure on a regional adventure resort and return of $275,000 it advanced.

Pioneer West Mortgage Investment Corp. has filed a claim against Ashcroft’s Wilderness Way Adventure Resort Inc. and operator Andrew McKinnnon. Also named are investors and contractors who worked on the project.

An allied claim has been filed by another mortgage firm as lenders and contractors scramble to get first in line in any court-ordered sale.

The petition claims mortgagors Wilderness Way and Phoenix Alliance Corp as well as McKinnon failed to make monthly payments.

The recently developed resort, located about 10 kilometres south of Ashcroft off Highland Valley Road, offered zlplining, horseback riding, ATV riding and hiking. It featured cabins and temporary structures for overnight guests.

Wilderness Way’s website states it will not be open this year due to a “ongoing shareholder dispute.”

Pioneer West stated it called on Wilderness Way and McKinnon to pay the entire amount owing after it fell into arrears.

According to the court document, Pioneer West is charging an interest rate of about 10 per cent on the loan.

Kokanee Mortgage, is also suing Wilderness Way in B.C. Supreme Court in a related foreclosure action.

None of the statements have been proven or heard in court.

A 38-year-old man who admitted to unloading six shots at an RCMP member who pulled him over in December 2014 was sentenced Thursday to more than sixteen years in prison.

After the charge of attempted murder was read out to him, Kenneth Knutson replied “guilty.” He has been in custody since his arrest in the afternoon of Dec. 3 that year, about 12 hours after the shooting and a police manhunt.

Austin Cullen, the associate chief judge for B.C. Supreme Court, agreed with a joint submission from the Crown and defence that Knutson be given a sentence of sixteen and a half years. With credit for time spent in custody, his effective sentence is 14.5 years.

His prior record includes convictions for assaulting police and manslaughter. He was given credit for pleading guilty and avoiding at trial at which Michaud would have testified.

Seriously injured in the shooting was Kamloops RCMPCpl. Jean-Rene Michaud, who was struck by several bullets. He underwent a number of surgeries and has not returned to full duty.

Michaud was in the courtroom but RCMP officials said he would not speak publicly on the shooting or sentencing.

Knutson declined to speak to the courtroom before his sentence.

“Mr. Knutson committed a very serious crime,” said defence lawyer Jordan Watt. “What we’re proposing is a very serious consequence for that crime.”

Crown lawyer Colin Forsyth detailed the events of the evening that began with Michaud pulling over a Chrysler Intrepid that was suspected to be involved in drug sales. Knutson was not part of that investigation.

Michaud called for backup after the car failed to immediately pull over on Eighth Avenue in North Kamloops. Instead, it continued up the road to Batchelor Heights, eventually pulling over.

Court heard Michaud approached the vehicle with caution.

“When Cpl. Michaud exited his vehicle, instead of approaching from the driver’s side as normal he decided to approach from the passenger’s side,” Forsyth said.

As he passed between the front of his cruiser and the back of the Chrysler, the rear passenger window blew out, Michaud heard gunfire and saw a muzzle flash.

“Cpl. Michaud was struck by at least two bullets, possibly more,” Forsyth said.

Through their investigation, RCMP determined Knutson fired six bullets from the Smith & Wesson 9-mm handgun. A police dog later recovered the gun in a grassy area near the townhouse unit where he was arrested. Knutson was injured from a shot fired by another Mountie who backed up Michaud.

A woman in the passenger seat of the Chrysler, Angela Kapral, later told RCMP when they were being pulled over, she told Knutson “‘pull over, it’s all good, it will be fine.'”

Forsyth said Kapral reported Knutson seemed “panicky” because he had no licence and didn’t want to go back to jail. She next saw the light from Michaud’s flashlight and Knutson with the handgun.

More to come . . .

If First Nations are claiming title to thousands of city homes and properties, they should name those landowners in their lawsuit, the federal government stated in a legal action filed this week.

Following a long delay criticized by MP Cathy McLeod, Ottawa filed a response to a civil claim by Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SNS), a joint body of Tk’emlups and Skeetchestn Indian bands. The delay was caused in part by the swearing in of a new Liberal government in Ottawa.

Calling the area around the historical Ajax pit and Jacko Lake “sacred,” SSN filed the lawsuit in September, claiming title to a vast area encompassing the mine, city of Kamloops and Sun Peaks resort.

It is unique because it represents the first time Secwepemc bands have filed claim to fee simple property.

In its response, the federal government begins by stating it is pursing reconciliation with First Nations “and is committed to a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.”

While that tone is conciliatory, Ottawa makes several assertions:

• SSN is making claims that should be instead more broadly advanced by “the larger collectivity of all Secwepemc speakers. . . . Canada says that any aboriginal rights that may exist would reside with the larger Secwepemc collective.”

• Two other actions, filed in 2003 and 2010, on behalf of Secwepemc Nation overlap and duplicate the latest claim.

• The bands waited too long to file claim against fee simple land, agreeing by default to subdivisions and sale by the Crown.

• Aboriginal title cannot be asserted without naming thousands of land owners captured in the claim — every home and property owner in Kamloops.

City lawyer John Drayton, who is not involved in the lawsuit, said the federal government is stating, in essence, “you have to bring the right people to court.”

In some circumstances, the court could appoint a representative of property owners in Kamloops and Sun Peaks, he said.

The province filed its response to the lawsuit in January.

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake called it a vigorous defence of private property rights, particularly because it involves homeowners in Kamloops.

The federal and provincial governments and KGHM Mining Inc. have all asked B.C. Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit and award costs against the bands.

SSN claims the province completed a “strength of claim” reassessment of Secwepemc rights and title on the Ajax footprint in May, 2015, finding a strong case for aboriginal title.

It is holding its own environment assessment process on the proposed open pit copper mine, culminating in June in a decision whether to approve it.

A defence lawyer appeared to reference a popular Netflix documentary series about wrongful convictions in her opening statement on Monday to a 14-person Kamloops jury tasked with deciding the fate of a former New Zealand politician charged with first-degree murder in his wife’s drowning death.

Peter Beckett is standing trial in B.C. Supreme Court accused of killing his wife, Laura Letts-Beckett, who drowned on a lake near Revelstoke in 2010.

On Monday morning, the Crown closed its case and defence lawyer Donna Turko addressed the jury with an opening statement, including references to police “playing tricks” on Beckett.

“Is this fair?” Turko asked jurors.

“Are we getting to the truth or are we making a murderer?”

Making a Murderer was a Netflix documentary series that became an online hit late last year. It detailed two prosecutions of Wisconsin man Steven Avery, who was exonerated in 2003 after serving 18 years for a violent rape only to be convicted of murder in 2007.

Letts-Beckett drowned in Upper Arrow Lake on Aug. 18, 2010. Her death was initially believed to have been accidental, but Beckett was charged with murder one year later.

The Crown has alleged Letts-Beckett was killed out of greed, saying Beckett’s motive was financial. Prosecutor Sarah Firestone has told jurors Beckett stood to gain a significant amount of money in life-insurance and accidental-death benefits, as well as Letts-Beckett’s schoolteacher pension.

Turko tried to poke holes in the Crown’s case against Beckett, saying most prosecution witnesses “actually support the evidence of Mr. Beckett.”

She also offered a number of points for jurors to consider: The marriage between Beckett and Letts-Beckett was not strained; Letts-Beckett’s relationship with her family was strained; Letts-Beckett suffered from depression, could have been suicidal and was self-medicating; Letts-Beckett obtained life-insurance policies without Beckett’s knowledge; and a jailhouse snitch called by the Crown, who can only be identified as Agent A, is unreliable.

“[Agent A] is a rat who likes to lie and likes to lie for money,” Turko said.

Agent A, Beckett’s former cellmate, testified over a period of days, telling jurors he had been essentially hired by Beckett to kill Crown witnesses upon his release from jail.

Beckett took the stand briefly in his own defence following Turko’s opening.

Her first question for her client was a straight-forward one: “Did you push your wife off the boat or drown her?”

“No, I did not,” Beckett replied.

Beckett then proceeded to give a rambling history of how he met Letts-Beckett, rife with tangential explainers and New Zealand trivia.

Among them, Beckett explained to jurors the origin of the term “Kiwi” as it relates to New Zealanders — “Kiwis aren’t named because of the kiwi fruit, they’re named because of the kiwi bird, which is flightless,” he said — the origin of the name Cape Kidnappers, the life-cycle of gannets and hot fishing spots for marlin and tuna on New Zealand’s North Island.

Beckett’s testimony is expected to resume later this week. In the meantime, Turko said, she will call friends, family and experts to give defence evidence.

Beckett and Letts-Beckett met in 1995 in New Zealand. Five years later, he moved to Westlock, Alta., to be closer to her. The couple married in 2003.

Previous witnesses have described their relationship as a rocky one. The Becketts split briefly in late 2007 but reconciled months later.

Letts-Beckett also went to police alleging physical abuse on the part of her husband, but no charges were laid.

Through her questioning, defence lawyer Donna Turko has suggested Letts-Beckett was depressed prior to her drowning.

Beckett was formerly a city councillor in Napier, New Zealand.

His trial, which began in mid-January, had been expected to last three months.

Jersey

A Kamloops man is accused of beating a dog to death after it bit a family member during a holiday meal.

The Crown has charged Christopher Mathes, 39, under the Criminal Code of Canada with causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal following an incident on Thanksgiving on 2015.

The BC SPCA reported a five-year-old Chihuahua named Jersey bit a family member during the holiday meal. The bite caused a small wound.

“Mathes allegedly took the dog outside and beat him repeatedly over the head with a four-foot-long fence post,” said BC SPCA chief prevention and enforcement officer Marcie Moriarty.

The incident was reported to the SPCA. Investigators found the dog buried in a cardboard box. SPCA officials said a necropsy showed the dog was killed by blunt force trauma due to blows to its head.

Moriarty said the necropsy performed on Jersey showed the dog, who was adopted by the family through a rescue group, died of blunt-force trauma caused by multiple blows to the head.

Mathes was arrested on a public-interest warrant.

If convicted, Mathes faces a maximum fine of $75,000, up to five years in jail or up to a lifetime ban on owning animals.

The former New Zealand politician standing trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on a charge of first-degree murder detailed for jurors on Wednesday an elaborate conspiracy theory of police “monkey business” following his wife’s death.

Peter Beckett, 59, is accused of killing his wife, Laura Letts-Beckett, who died in a lake near Revelstoke more than five years ago.

Letts-Beckett drowned in Upper Arrow Lake on Aug. 18, 2010.

Her death was initially believed to be accidental, but Beckett was arrested and charged one year later.

The Crown has alleged Letts-Beckett was killed out of greed, saying Beckett’s motive was financial.

Prosecutor Sarah Firestone has told jurors Beckett stood to gain a significant amount of money in life-insurance and accidental-death benefits, as well as his wife’s schoolteacher’s pension.

During the trial, court has heard police did lie to Beckett and used some unusual tactics while investigating him, including staging a break-in at his Westlock, Alta., home while he sat in a B.C. jail cell.

Defence lawyer Donna Turko asked Beckett if he sensed anything was amiss when investigators began contacting him in the spring of 2011.

“You thought some monkey business was going on?” Turko asked.

“I thought, ‘Something’s not right, man,’” Beckett replied.

“My gut was telling me that this was just a crock.”

Beckett, a six-foot-eight mountain of a man who literally has to squeeze into the witness box to give testimony, said the conspiracy started with allegations from the Letts family following his wife’s death.

In court, Beckett has described the Letts family as members of a “brainwashing” cult-like religion called Exclusive Brethren.

He also claimed police planted an agent in his cell in a Lower Mainland jail in July 2012.

The agent, who can only be identified as Agent A, testified he went to police after Beckett, his former cellmate, asked him to murder several key Crown witnesses.

Beckett told jurors he was instead inquiring with Agent A about the use of a private investigator.

During his testimony, Beckett said Letts-Beckett committed suicide after dealing for decades with a rape she suffered at the hands of a family friend at the age of seven.

Beckett and Letts-Beckett met in 1995 in New Zealand.

Five years later, he moved to Westlock to be closer to her. The couple married in 2003.

Previous witnesses have described their relationship as a rocky one. The Becketts split up in late 2007, but reconciled five weeks later.

Letts-Beckett also went to police alleging physical abuse on the part of her husband, but no charges were laid. In his testimony, Beckett denied having ever assaulted his wife.

Beckett was formerly a city councillor in Napier, New Zealand.

His trial, which began in mid-January, had been expected to last three months.

It’s not clear how many more witnesses Turko intends to call, but she mentioned friends, family and experts in her opening statement to the jury.