Elwin Wheeler holds a photograph of daughter Deanne Wheeler.
KTW file photo

A B.C. Supreme Court justice ordered a psychiatric assessment on Thursday for a 41-year-old man who claims he killed his former girlfriend because he was in the “fight of his life” with a demon.

Christopher Butler —who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Deanne Wheeler — admitted to strangling her with a rope saw and cord, beating her with a rock and stabbing her to death.

Butler invited Wheeler to his apartment on Dec. 30, 2014.

He told police he was waiting for her with the rope saw and wanted to kill her because she was possessed by a demon.

Despite those admissions, Justice Keith Bracken said there is uncertainty whether Butler’s mental state at the time allowed him to form intent to murder.

From the moment he walked into the North Shore RCMP detachment the day as the murder to inform police to his latest court appearance, Butler has admitted to the murder and expressed a desire to plead guilty.

He has refused legal assistance and represented himself in court.

But, Bracken also noted Butler has consistently questioned in court whether he is not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder, a section of the Criminal Code.

“What I killed was not the body of Deanne, but what was inside her,” Butler said during one court appearance.

Convicted of a number of crimes in past, including robbery, Butler has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, mood disturbance and delusional thinking.

The psychiatrist who determined he is fit to stand trial earlier this year also recommended Butler be sent for a psychiatric assessment to determine whether he intended to kill Wheeler or was suffering from psychosis at the time.

“It’s my view that aspect requires further exploration,” Bracken said.

Butler will be sent to the provincial forensic psychiatric hospital for a 30-day assessment.

Crown prosecutor Alex Janse presented evidence through text messages of Butler’s increasing jealously and controlling behaviour in the weeks before Wheeler’s death.

Depending on the finding, the Crown can argue against the assessment and present its own expert evidence in court as to Butler’s mental state at the time of Wheeler’s death.

The post Psychiatric assessment for killer of ex-girlfriend in Kamloops appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Stabbing a loss-prevention officer with a dirty needle has cost a Kamloops man with hepatitis C more than two years of freedom.

Jonathon Fernandez was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday to 31 months in jail after being found guilty of aggravated assault.

The 42-year-old was charged after an incident at Extra Foods in North Kamloops on March 27.

Court heard a loss-prevention officer spotted Fernandez trying to steal Lakota back cream and followed him out of the store.

When confronted, Fernandez pulled a needle on the worker and started swinging.

The worker was struck in his left palm when the needle became embedded in his hand.

Fernandez was eventually subdued and arrested by police.

Crown prosecutor Joel Gold said the victim underwent 28 days of medication and is still being regularly monitored by doctors.

“You’ve got the potential of transference of life-threatening diseases, you’ve got the anxiety of the victim,” Gold said.

“The good news is that he’s so far clear and the hope is that will continue to be the case.”

Court heard Fernandez has a lengthy criminal history with more than 40 convictions, seven of which have been for violent offences.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley handed Fernandez a 31-month sentence in a federal penitentiary, to be followed by one year of probation.

“I’m terrified of going to a federal penitentiary,” Fernandez said in court. “I’ve heard stories of what goes on in there. I’m scared to death but, at the same time, I’m a God-fearing man and I’ll go down whatever road the Lord has chosen for me.”

Fernandez was also ordered to submit a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.

The post Stabbing store detective with needle lands attacker in federal prison appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The trial of an Ashcroft man accused of murdering his uncle last summer began in a Kamloops courtroom on Monday, with the accused muttering to himself and turning often to stare at people seated in the gallery.

Shane Gyoba, 29, is charged with second-degree murder. His uncle, Ed Gyoba, was killed on June 2, 2014, at a home on Cedar Crescent in Ashcroft.

The first Crown witness, RCMP Sgt. Paul Bouwman, showed the court hundreds of photos of the crime scene — most focusing on the home’s yard, where the victim’s body was found.

Bouwman said officers set up a tent to protect the body from the sun. Later in the day, he said, the tent was surrounded by tarps and air-conditioning was blasted inside.

The details of the killing have not yet come out in court, but Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan said the victim died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head, resulting in a fractured skull and fractured nose.

Flanagan said he expects a neighbour to describe in court what he witnessed the day of the alleged murder.

According to Flanagan, it took the neighbour “some time to process” what he saw.

Throughout Bouwman’s evidence, Gyoba repeatedly turned to offer long stares at the half-dozen people seated in the gallery. An extra sheriff was also in the courtroom for added security.

In addition to the stares, Gyoba also muttered incoherently multiple times. At one point, while Flanagan was addressing concerns that might be raised about Gyoba’s mental health, the accused said,”Mr. Shane Gyoba is not mentally ill. Mr. Ed Gyoba was.”

The trial is slated to last three weeks, but Flanagan said he expects it to wrap up after two weeks.

The post Murder trial begins; Ashcroft man charged with killing uncle in spring of 2014 appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Joe Leong, seen here in a 2006 KTW file photo, admitted to offences under B.C.’s Society Act pertaining to misusing funds from the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society.KTW file photo, admitted to offences under B.C.’s Society Act pertaining to misusing funds from the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society.

A former Kamloops city councillor who admitted to using $200,000 of grant money received by the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society to tend to his own personal finances has been banned for a year from sitting as a director on any boards.

Joe Leong has also been fined $2,000 for misusing society funds — money he repaid with interest before it was discovered he had misappropriated the money.

The 65-year-old was originally charged with two counts each of fraud, breach of trust and theft over $5,000. He entered into a plea bargain, however, and admitted to lesser offences under B.C.’s Society Act — one count of failing to exercise care, diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person as a director and one count of failing to disclose fully and promptly the nature and extent of his interest in transactions.

Court heard Leong, who last served as city councillor in 2008, was a director of the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society between 2009 and 2012. Shortly after he joined, the society decided to cut costs by eliminating its bookkeeper. As treasurer, Leong took on those responsibilities.

“In hindsight, this turned out to be a mistake for both the society and Mr. Leong,” Crown prosecutor Chris Balison said.

The society was dependent on an annual operating grant of more than $100,000 from the City of Kamloops.

Court heard the board did not run a tight ship.

“The board was both flexible and informal in its meetings and decision-making,” Balison said.

“As often happens with volunteer boards, intentions are well-meant, but governance issues arose which were unintended.”

In December 2010, court heard, the society was unable to pay its debts. Leong offered $9,000 of his own money to help cover those debts and was repaid weeks later.

The practice of the society had been to invest its city grant in a short-term, low-interest GIC for the first few months of the year. In 2011, Leong offered to invest the money through his personal account for a better return.

The society’s president, Glen Wideman, agreed.

“There is a dispute about the kind of investment that was authorized,” Balison said.

“However, it is agreed that Mr. Leong was authorized to make an investment, but the board did not intend to authorize Mr. Leong’s personal use of the $100,000.”

Because of shoddy record-keeping, the only reference in society minutes to the transaction was a mention of a “$100,000 restricted net asset” investment.

“Mr. Leong used the $100,000 for various personal debts between Feb. 11, 2011, and May 30, 2011, inclusive,” Balison said.

Leong had the $100,000 repaid by the end of May 2011 and paid $225 interest the following month.

In March 2012, Wideman cut Leong another $100,000 cheque, which was again deposited into a personal account. Leong repaid the amount with a cheque for $100,150 six weeks later.

Defence lawyer Ken Walker noted the fact the society actually ended up with more money than it would have if it had deposited the grants in GICs, but admitted his client was in the wrong.

“Joe and the board were not putting their minds to the things they should have been putting their minds to,” he said. “It just was a mistake.”

Outside court, Leong said he is happy the process has come to a conclusion.

“I’m relieved and glad it’s all over,” he said. “My intention has always been good — to help the railway. I still remain committed to the community. I only wish 2141 best wishes.”

The post Former Kamloops councillor fined, banned from sitting on boards for a year appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

He stepped outside for a smoke and heard a series of loud thumps as he watched what may have been one man beating another to death.

The murder trial of Shane Gyoba continued in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Tuesday with the testimony of Gil Anderson, an Ashcroft resident who lived across the street from Gyoba on June 2, 2014 — the day Gyoba is accused of beating his uncle to death with a shovel.

Gyoba, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Ed Gyoba.

Police were called to the scene at about 9:30 a.m. by Gil Anderson, who lived across the street from Shane Gyoba’s Ashcroft home.

Anderson said the drama began just before 8:40 a.m., when he went outside for a cigarette and heard a shouting match.

“I lit the smoke, and that’s when I heard the sounds of arguing coming from I didn’t know where,” Anderson testified.

“It was louder than regular talking. They sounded angry. I couldn’t hear what words were spoken.”

Anderson said he walked around the side of his house to the driveway and saw, through bushes, two men on Gyoba’s front lawn.

“I couldn’t quite see faces, but I saw two silhouettes through the bushes,” he said.

“I saw the silhouettes on the left attack the one on the right. The one on the right tried to defend itself and the one on the left pursued until the one on the right fell down.”

Anderson said he then saw the attacker pick up something up from the ground and start swinging.

“I could see the long handle and I wasn’t quite sure what it was until I heard the shovel, the first strike,” he said.

“I heard a kind of muffled, garbled voice of an elderly person that kind of groaned and said, ‘You son a bitch.’

“After that, it was two more — I didn’t hear any words, but I could hear the shovel hit two more times.

“It was a reverberating metal sound and a loud thump.”

Anderson said he was shaken by what he witnessed and, at first, convinced himself it wasn’t real.

“I stood there for a second,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe. I was shaky. I couldn’t understand what I’d seen or heard at that point, and it was minutes before I had to walk my daughter to school.”

Anderson said he had to walk directly past Gyoba’s yard to get his daughter to school.

“I made sure to speak loudly to her and keep her eyes on me, just in case there was anything to see,” he said.

“I could hear the sound of digging as I walked by — the sound of the shovel moving earth.”

Anderson said he returned home after dropping off his daughter and decided to call police.

“I think at that point I’d accepted what I’d seen,” he said.

“I’d come to the conclusion that I actually did just see that — that somebody had been assaulted and beat with a shovel 20 feet away.”

A police witness earlier testified investigators found a broken shovel on Gyoba’s property.

Gyoba appeared restless through much of the second day of trial. At one point, his lawyer, Don Campbell, had to tell Gyoba to stop interrupting the proceedings.

“Mr. Gyoba, could you please be quiet while we’re trying to do this?” Campbell said.

“Trying to do what?” Gyoba replied. “Waste your own days? Nobody’s having fun here.”

Gyoba’s trial, before a judge alone, is expected to wrap up next week.

The post ‘I couldn’t believe'; Murder trial witness describes shovel attack appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The widow of a man allegedly beaten to death with a shovel by his nephew in Ashcroft last summer told a B.C. Supreme Court judge yesterday a tragic story of being run out of her own life.

From the prisoner’s box in a Kamloops courtroom, Shane Gyoba repeatedly interrupted his aunt, Barb Gyoba, as she testified at his second-degree murder trial.

Shane Gyoba stands accused of beating to death his uncle, Ed Gyoba, on June 2, 2014.

On Tuesday, neighbour Gil Anderson testified he saw Shane and Ed Gyoba involved in a fight on their front lawn that morning.

After Shane Gyoba knocked his uncle down, Anderson said, he picked up a shovel and delivered three blows.

Anderson called police and Shane Gyoba was arrested minutes later. He has been in custody ever since.

Barb Gyoba, who married Ed in 1993, said Shane’s father died before he was a teenager. When Shane was 14, he moved from Saskatoon to Ashcroft to live with Barb and Ed, court heard.

Barb said Shane had been in trouble with the law in Saskatoon after being caught tagging a fence. He was on probation when he moved to Ashcroft.

At that point in her testimony, Shane interrupted his aunt, saying, “Don’t confuse me and Ed. Don’t confuse myself as your son.”

Each time she was interrupted, Barb held her hand up to block her nephew from her view. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley eventually told Shane to “remain quiet,” but the interruptions continued.

Barb described Shane as a happy kid who was eager to please. But, she said, as he went through high school, things changed.

“He became more dominant in school,” she said. “He was the boss. He had friends — a gang of friends — but he was the boss of the school. One of the teachers let him teach the class.

“He was very domineering.”

Barb said Shane’s aggressive personality took a toll on her, eventually leading to a nervous breakdown.

“It was nerve-wracking because my husband protected me from him,” she said.

“Shane decided at some point that I couldn’t be intimidated. He could control my husband, but he couldn’t me.”

That conflict led to Barb moving out of the family home and into a nearby townhouse she had been using for a small business.

But, she said, Ed remained in the house with Shane. Court heard the pair spent a lot of time in a shop on the property.

“They would sit on either side of a wood stove in reclining chairs and Shane would talk and Eddy would listen — for hours, days,” she said.

Ed eventually moved his business to Lillooet, leaving Shane alone in the house, but would make frequent trips back to Ashcroft for work and to do odd jobs at home.

Weeks before he was killed, court heard, Ed had become fed up with Shane and wanted him out of the house.

“Eddy came over and he had a hammer out and he said, ‘This is it, he’s got to get out,’” Barb testified.

“He was very upset. Very upset.

“Shane said, ‘It’s my house. Why would I move out?’ But, Ed owned the house.”

The day her husband died, Barb said, he had gone to the house to work on the underground sprinkler system. Barb said Ed left her townhouse at about 8 a.m., when she set off for Kamloops to pick up a pair of his glasses.

“I said, ‘I’ll be back right away and we can have lunch and then you can go home,’” she said.

“When I got back, the crime-scene tape was up. That was around 12:30.

“The sergeant came over, he saw me there, and he said, ‘We talked about this, didn’t we?’

“We did talk about it, a year ago, about Shane doing something,” Barb said.

Shane Gyoba’s trial is expected to wrap up next week.

The post Ashcroft murder trial: Widow said accused is ‘domineering’ appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The skull of a man allegedly beaten to death by his nephew last summer resembled a jigsaw puzzle during his autopsy, a judge has been told.

Shane Gyoba, 29, is standing trial on a charge of second-degree murder in connection to the death of his uncle, Ed Gyoba.

The elder Gyoba died on June 2, 2014. Court has heard a witness saw Shane Gyoba beating his uncle with a shovel following a fist fight in the front yard of an Ashcroft home.

Taking the stand in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops yesterday was Dr. James Stephen, the pathologist who performed Gyoba’s autopsy two days after his death.

Stephen said Gyoba died as a result of massive head injuries.

“He died of head injuries suffered as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head,” Stephen said.

“He had a number of injuries to the head. When we’re talking about the head injury, this is a very large injury of bruising to the right side of his scalp, which showed a large depressed skull fracture.”

Stephen said he found eight areas of injury on Gyoba’s body, likely the result of more than six separate blows.

He said the injuries were consistent with a shovel or perhaps a shovel and an axe or a pipe.

Stephen said he found five bone fragments and multiple fracture lines on the right side of Gyoba’s skull.

“I found 10 or more pieces of this jigsaw-like skull fracture,” he said.

“There are multiple fractures at the base of the skull and multiple fractures on the upper part of the globe on the skull.”

Stephen said Gyoba’s mouth had been stuffed with dirt prior to his death.

“There was abundant dirt in the mouth,” he said. “I believe there is good evidence he was alive when the dirt was put in his mouth.

“He swallowed some of the dirt. Dirt was found in his esophagus. He breathed some of the dirt. Dirt was found in his airways.”

Stephen said he believed Gyoba was likely unconscious when he ingested the dirt.

On Wednesday, Gyoba’s widow testified about how Shane Gyoba’s arrival in Ashcroft 15 years ago turned her life upside down.

Barb Gyoba said she was eventually run out of her own home by her “domineering” nephew.

The trial is expected to conclude next week.

The post Ashcroft murder trial: Victim ingested dirt before dying appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

A B.C. Supreme Court Justice ruled an insurance company must pay out losses to a homeowner whose Westsyde house was burned in an arson following an RCMP raid on a marijuana grow operation.

Wawanesa Insurance Co. denied benefits to the homeowner, Steven Michael Davidson, arguing he knew about a sizeable grow-op in the basement of his home.

Davidson has a dated criminal record for forgery and possession of stolen property.

He was working at the time of the raid and arson as a contractor setting up illegal grow operations in the 100 Mile House area.

Davidson was on bail for assaulting his wife, charges that were later dropped, and was banned as part of a court order from being within 100 metres of his Westsyde house, where she continued to live.

Davidson argued that since he was working away from Kamloops and banned from being at the home, he did not know about the grow-op.

While he did make a visit to his house, contrary to his bail order, Davidson testified he did not notice a basement door drywalled shut and painted over.

Instead, in a rage, he smashed goods at the house he believed were stolen by his wife, Tammy Boucher.

“This is a case close to the line,” Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick said in her ruling.

“But, I accept the evidence of Mr. Davidson and find, as a fact, that he did not know of the grow operation or even the other activities relating to potentially stolen property or potentially illegal firearms over the relevant period of time leading up to the fire.”

Fitzpatrick ordered Wawanesa to pay Davidson, who represented himself at the trial, $215,000 for loss of the home and contents.

The remaining amounts for the loss were paid to the bank that had a mortgage on the house at 4300 Westsyde Rd.

When police raided the house in April 2010, they found a grow operation with more than 600 plants, property they believed was stolen and illegal firearms.

One day later, the home was destroyed in an arson.

Wawanesa originally argued Davidson was responsible for the arson, but later dropped that contention.

The insurance company relied in part on wording in its policy that voids coverage in the event of marijuana production, whether or not the insured even knows about it.

But, Fitzpatrick said, there is no evidence the arson immediately following the raid had any relationship to the grow-op, despite the suspicious timing.

The insurer also obtained video shot in March 2010, shown in court, of Davidson discussing a visit to his home.

“Are you telling me she hasn’t got the basement fired up again?” an unidentified male asks Davidson in the video.

“Not very well,” he replies. “F—ing very pathetic what I seen down there, I finally went in there, you know, she showed me a couple plants, brought them up to me, up, you know up to the door . . . you know, they look pretty good, but there’s not very many there . . . what the f—, not very many . . . Yeah, ha, I just got tired of the bullshit there, huh. So we agreed that she would be out in two months.

“I told her at the end of May that should be enough time to get her program finished, you know, get it up and running and finished, and then we, we’ll . . . and I’ll sell the F—ing house, get rid of it, get my headaches over, I get rid of her.”

Davison argued “her program” referred to Boucher’s psychiatric program.

Fitzpatrick said statements on the video could be backed by either the insurance company’s or Davidson’s story.

The post Judge rules insurance company must pay for losses from arson attack on home with grow-op appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Andrew McKay

The former director of graduate studies at Thompson Rivers University has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

Andrew McKay appeared in B.C. Provincial Court in Salmon Arm on Tuesday without his lawyer to change his plea to guilty.

Court was told that on May 12, 2014, in Kamloops, McKay was found in the possession of  child pornography.

Crown prosecutor Bill Hilderman told the court the case is being handled by Kamloops Crown Evan Goulet and the defendant’s lawyer is Shawn Buckley.

Hilderman said Crown is seeking a forensic risk-assessment report, which could delay sentencing up to six weeks.

Judge Mayland McKimm asked McKay why his lawyer was not in the courtroom.

“It has been devastating on  my career, family and marriage and I’m eager to deal with it directly,” McKay said.

“It also has been financially devastating. Because today’s appearance is to change my plea, frankly, to save a bit of expense, I wanted to appear on my own . . .”

McKimm tried to establish that McKay understood the ramifications of changing his plea.

“I absolutely understand the short- and long-term circumstances and giving up my right to trial,” McKay responded. “It’s not in any way I don’t know what I’m doing.”

While the judge said a lawyer might wish to investigate different avenues of defence, McKay said for the sake of his family, he wanted to expedite the process.

“I understand,” McKimm said. “I’m giving you 100 per cent credit for that.”

The court decided McKay will be the subject of a pre-sentence report with a psychological and psychiatric component.

The next court date is Oct. 13, when a date will be set for sentencing.

The post Former TRU director of graduate studies pleads guilty to possession of child pornography appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

A Kamloops woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to defrauding an elderly man to pay for breast implants and a tummy tuck has received another jail sentence — this time for stealing precious stones from a Sahali store.

Brandie Bloor pleaded guilty to theft under $5,000 in Kamloops provincial court on Thursday.

The 39-year-old appeared in court by video from a women’s prison, where she is already serving a nine-month jail sentence for fraud.

Court heard Bloor walked into Best Beauty Buys in Sahali Mall on Nov. 22, 2014.

Crown prosecutor Chris Balison said Bloor waited for the 82-year-old clerk to become distracted with another customer before picking up 10 precious stones with a retail value of $2,500 and taking off.

“She [the clerk] called the mall maintenance man to assist,” Balison said.

“He followed her to a bathroom, but she [Bloor] eventually left the mall.”

Police identified Bloor using video surveillance. The stones were not recovered.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison sentenced Bloor to 90 days in jail for the theft and put her on a year-long probation term with an order barring her from being within 30 metres of Sahali Mall.

She will also have to repay Best Beauty Buys $1,000 — the approximate wholesale value of the stones she stole.

Bloor is also on the hook for $17,000 — the amount she fraudulently obtained to pay for her cosmetic surgery last year.

The post More trouble for breast-implant fraudster appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Beating up his mother has cost a 27-year-old Kamloops man four months of freedom.

Jaycee Folden pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including assault and obstructing police, in Kamloops provincial court on Thursday.

Court heard he became involved in an argument with his mother in her Kamloops home on Jan. 29.

Crown prosecutor Chris Balison said Folden punched her twice in the arm, knocking her down, before delivering three more blows to her arm and back.

“He told her she was lucky she was his mother, otherwise he would have hit her in the head,” Balison said.

Two months later, Folden was arrested after giving a fake name to police investigating a report of a fight in North Kamloops.

He also ran away from officers, but was located a short time later in a business on Fortune Drive.

Folden has been in custody since March 27. “I just want to change my ways in the past, move forward and make better decisions,” he said.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison sentenced Folden to 120 days in jail for the assault and another 74 days for additional charges of obstruction, breach and failing to appear in court.

Folden was also placed on a one-year probation term with an order barring him from having any contact with his mother except with the consent of his probation officer.

The post Behind bars for assaulting mom appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Kamloops man facing a string of serious charges.

Jonathon Fasciano, 28, was a no-show Wednesday in Kamloops provincial court for his trial on two counts of assault and charges of uttering threats to kill an animal or bird, unlawful confinement and causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal.

The charges relate to two incidents dating back to last year — one in September and the other in November.

The post No-show in court, warrant issued appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

One of the owners of the Kamloops Blazers has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and child endangerment in the U.S., according to a Minnesota TV station.

KSTP TV reports Darryl Sydor, 43, was arrested on Thursday in Fridley, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis.

According to the report, Sydor was driving his 12-year-old son to a hockey game when he was stopped. Police said his blood-alcohol level was .30. Officers gave the boy a ride to his game while Sydor was booked into a local jail pending a court appearance slated to take place Friday.

Sydor played four seasons with the Blazers before embarking on an 18-year NHL career that saw him score 507 points in nearly 1,300 games.

He has been an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild since 2011.

Sydor is part of a group of former Blazers who partnered with Tom Gaglardi in 2007 to purchase the Western Hockey League franchise.

The post Blazer owner Sydor arrested in Minnesota appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Kelly Kelland

The CEO of Interior Community Services has been charged with assault in connection to a domestic incident.

Kelly Kelland’s charge stems from a July 8 incident at a home in Monte Creek.

Her next court appearance is Aug. 31.

Along with her duties as CEO of Interior Community Services, Kelland and her partner have a website that promotes a company called Attainable Art, which features pottery created by the couple.

Kelland was inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 2011, when she was 48, following her time playing softball at Ohio State University, where she set the university record for strikeouts in a season and where she also earned a teaching degree.

Kelland was a member of Team Canada’s softball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Summer Games.

Kelland lived in Australia before arriving in Kamloops in 1990.

Interior Community Services is a non-profit agency providing about 50 programs in 32 communities. It offers support and services to approximately 1,100 people every day, from infants to seniors.

Programs offered through ICS include Meals on Wheels, Kamloops Early Language and Literacy Initiative (ABC Literacy Day), Cool To Be Kind Week, Family Therapy Centre, affordable-housing initiatives, community gardens and counselling services.

The post Interior Community Services CEO charged with assault appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Dr. Bobby Rishiraj

A penalty hearing is underway in Vancouver this week for a Kamloops dental surgeon who improperly sedated a young woman during a routine operation, leaving her with a severe brain injury.

The patient, then-18-year-old Hamu Zindoga, was deeply sedated in November 2012 while having her wisdom teeth removed, even though Dr. Bobby Rishiraj had not been approved to perform such a procedure.

During a hearing earlier this year before a discipline panel of the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C., Rishiraj admitted to some of the allegations against him, including that he committed professional misconduct or unprofessional conduct by providing deep sedation at his facility, when it was not approved as a deep sedation facility and despite the fact he was not approved to provide deep sedation to patients; and by not operating the facility in compliance with the college’s sedation and general anesthetic standards.

Following evidence and submissions, the college’s discipline panel issued its decision on June 23.

It found Rishiraj:
•    • Administered deep sedation to Zindoga when neither he nor the facility were authorized to do so, and without complying with CDSBC’s guidelines for deep sedation;
•     • Ran his practice to promote “efficiencies” by treating as many patients in as short a time as possible;
•    • Failed to recognize Zindoga’s cardiac arrest in a timely way and delayed resuscitative measures as a result; and
•    • Failed to adequately monitor his patients while they were under sedation.
•    The discipline panel concluded that Rishiraj’s failure to adequately monitor his patients and to recognize HZ’s cardiac arrest could be characterized as incompetent practice.

On Monday, college lawyers told the penalty hearing that Rishiraj was reckless and cavalier and any penalty must reflect his great misconduct.
The dentist could face a fine, suspension or both.

Following the college’s decision last month, Rishiraj filed notice he was appealing the June decision by the college. He continues to practise as an oral surgeon in Kamloops, under limits and conditions imposed by the college.
Rishiraj is not entitled to administer anesthesia beyond moderate sedation using only one class of agent (benzodiazepenes) and was required to hire additional expert staff and to change protocols and procedures in his office. Any deep sedation required is provided by authorized medical practitioners and Rishiraj must ensure patients are continuously monitored by accredited staff.

Meanwhile, Zindoga, has separately filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Rishiraj, as well as against his dental assistant, Sara Chalmers, in B.C. Supreme Court.
It seeks unspecified damages for Zindoga, who is represented by her mother as a litigation guardian. Zindoga now lives in a Okanagan residential treatment centre for people with brain injuries.

The malpractice suit also claims an ambulance attendant discovered a piece of gauze blocking Zindoga’s airway.
After the gauze was removed, the paramedic intubated Zindoga, who had stopped breathing.

Rishiraj filed a response in B.C. Supreme Court, admitting he was not approved to provide deep sedation, but denying other allegations. The response said Rishiraj and Chalmers recognized Zindoga’s cardiac arrest and started appropriate resuscitation.
The response to the lawsuit also claims Zindoga’s mother, Evelyn, failed to disclose her daughter was admitted to Royal Inland Hospital’s emergency department for complaints of chest pain prior to surgery.
The response also stated Rishiraj was not told Zindoga was being treated and taking medication for migraines and psychiatric illness.

The trial is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2016.

The post Penalty hearing begins for Kamloops dentist appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Wayne Camille

A Kamloops man who was busted driving drunk twice in one month last year — his eighth and ninth convictions for impaired driving — has avoided a jail sentence.

Instead, Wayne Camille will have to pay a fine that prompted questions from a provincial court judge when initially presented.

Camille, 58, was caught driving drunk twice in November — once when an officer pulled him over in the parking lot of a Sahali liquor store and again when he blew through a four-way stop at between 40 and 50 km/h.

Lawyers pitched a joint submission that would see Camille pay $2,000 in fines and be banned from driving for two years in exchange for guilty pleas to two counts of impaired driving and one count of driving while prohibited.

“The primary sentencing goals here are denunciation and deterrence,” Crown prosecutor Laura Drake said.

But, Kamloops provincial court judge Chris Cleaveley pointed out the joint submission was actually less than the mandatory minimum fine of $2,500 for the three guilty pleas.

Drake then upped the joint submission to $2,500.

Cleaveley also questioned how such a sentence would deter drivers from repeatedly driving while drunk.

“If the Crown is seeking the minimum fine, there’s not much denunciation and deterrence, is there?” he asked.

“For a fine to denounce the second offence, the fine would have to be more than the one for the first offence. It seems odd that denunciation and deterrence for the second offence is the same penalty for the first offence,” Cleavely said.

“I’m not calling the sentence into question but, effectively, there isn’t an awful lot to denounce or deter others.”

Cleaveley eventually agreed to the plea bargain after hearing the circumstances of Camille’s life, which include a stay at residential school as a youth and a series of severe bull-riding injuries that left him on permanent disability.

Camille’s seven previous convictions for impaired driving occurred in the 1980s.

Court heard Camille plans to pay part of his fine with settlement money he received for having attended residential school.

With all of the surcharges factored in, Camille owes $3,175 in fines.

Cleaveley also imposed a two-year driving ban.

The post Double drunk driver avoids jail appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Kelly Kelland

The Crown has stayed a charge of assault against the CEO of a Kamloops social agency.

Interior Community Services (ICS) said Kelly Kelland will return to her position as CEO.

The Crown entered a stay of proceedings on a charge of assault stemming from a domestic incident on July 8 this year at the Monte Creek home Kelland shared with her partner.

Following a review of the file, prosecutor Chris Balison said the Crown determined there was not a substantial likelihood of a conviction on the charge.

Shelly Bonnah, ICS’s acting CEO, said Monday there is relief within the organization the charges were stayed and Kelland will return to her role as its leader.

“Staff are fully aware of what’s going on and we support Kelly,” Bonnah said.

Kelland could not be reached for comment.

Kelland’s lawyer, David Paul, said publicity of the charge has been damaging to his client, a community leader and a member of Canada’s Olympic softball team in 1996.

Kelland was inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 2011, when she was 48, following her time playing softball at Ohio State University, where she set the university record for strikeouts in a season and where she also earned a teaching degree.

“My client is relieved. Justice is done and the matter was resolved quickly,” Paul said.

ISC’s board announced last week Kelland would be on a leave until the matter was resolved.

“She’s a person who, for 25 years, worked extremely hard to serve people in the community and she has a terrific reputation,” Paul said.

Interior Community Services is a non-profit agency providing about 50 programs in 32 communities.

It offers support and services to about 1,100 people, from infants to seniors.

The post Assault charge against Interior Community Services CEO stayed appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

DAVID CAZA: Registered as a sex offender for life.

A sex offender who hijacked the Internet account of a former roommate to share child pornography had no reasonable expectation of privacy from police searches, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled.

David Caza was sentenced in August 2012 for possessing child pornography, distributing child pornography and breaching a court order.

He was sentenced to seven years in jail and declared a long-term offender. With time served, Caza was scheduled to be released last year.

He appealed that conviction based on a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2014 that found Internet users have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding police requests for information from telecommunication companies.

In this case, an Ontario investigator asked Shaw Communications Inc. to disclose customer information on a IP address linked to child pornography as part of a larger investigation that started in the United States.

Shaw handed over the subscriber information voluntarily and it was traced it to an account in the name of Brian Feltham, a former roommate of Caza’s.

When the roommate moved, Caza — who was already banned from using a computer to contact persons under 16 — assumed the account and paid it under Feltham’s name.

RCMP later determined Caza lived at the Columbia Street address and raided the home.

Investigators found 3,500 videos and 50,000 pictures on Caza’s computer, most of them verified to be depictions of children involved in sexual acts.

Caza’s lawyer argued his client’s right to privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was breached, saying Shaw should not have handed over the subscriber information without a search warrant.

But, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Caza’s theft of the account removed that protection.

“Mr. Caza did not have the permission of Mr. Feltham to use his Shaw account and, in fact, fraudulently hijacked his Internet account,” the court ruled.

“Lack of permission in the circumstances of this case is sufficient to render any subjective impression of privacy Mr. Caza may have had objectively unreasonable.”

Caza’s jail sentence was to be followed by a 10-year long-term supervision order in the community.

He is registered as a sex offender for life and forever banned from visiting parks, playgrounds, swimming pools and schools.

The post Sex offender David Caza loses appeal appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has declined to increase a $140,000 fine levied on the owner of the NHL’s Dallas Stars for destroying fish habitat at Kamloops Lake.

Calling the penalty a “pittance” for Tom Galgardi — whose assets include the Stars, Kamloops Blazers and the Sandman hotel chain — the Crown appealed the sentence given by provincial court judge Stephen Harrison in December of last year. It asked the B.C. Supreme Court to more than double the fine, to $300,000.

Gaglardi was convicted last fall on two counts of harmful alteration of a fish habitat. His company, Northland Properties, was found guilty of identical counts, while his father, Robert Gaglardi, was acquitted.

Justice Susan Griffin said the provincial court judge did not make an error in his penalty. Gaglardi was also required to pay $85,000 in a bid to restore damage at his Kamloops Lake waterfront property.

“The Crown is correct in its position that when a crime is committed by a sophisticated person for purely selfish reasons, the moral blameworthiness of the crime is great. The respondents’ moral culpability is at the high end of the scale here,” Griffin wrote, adding “damage to the environment caused by the respondents was significant.”

But, Griffin added, a review of case law shows the penalty to be appropriate under the law.

“I may have imposed a higher fine in the circumstances, but that is not the test . . . It is clear that the sentencing judge considered all relevant factors and I am not able to find that the total penalties imposed, when remediation costs are taken into account, were disproportionately low as to be unfit.”

During the trial last year, court heard the Gaglardi family home on Kamloops Lake in Savona — known as Tom’s Shack — was undergoing extensive renovations in 2010.

The charges stem from riprap installed by workers taking orders from Gaglardi during  construction of a boat ramp and shoreline trees he ordered removed from the property.

Gaglardi apologized for the damage during a sentence hearing.

An expert in the trial testified the work turned the property “from a very good fish habitat to a moonscape.”

A former Northland employee testified during trial he was ordered to destroy documents and throw his computer hard drive in the lake when federal investigators began looking into alleged environmental improprieties.

The post Court will not increase fine levied against Gaglardi for destroying fish habitat appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has ruled the Rocky Mountaineer is largely responsible for injuries suffered by an American tourist in a fall onboard the passenger train four years ago.

However, Justice Nathan Smith also found the tourist, 66-year-old Karen Varma of Indiana, 35 per cent responsible for her fall that resulted in a broken kneecap, causing her enduring pain and mobility limitations.

The incident happened aboard Rocky Mountaineer’s premier Gold Leaf service on a two-day train trip from Vancouver to Jasper, with an overnight stay in Kamloops. Varma claimed the train made an unusual slowing motion as she was returning to her seat from an open vestibule in a section without a hand railing.

She was thrown forward and fell on the metal floor. Varma ended her trip in Kamloops, where she sought medical help.

Varma sued Rocky Mountaineer Vacations Ltd. for negligence.

Smith ruled the train should have provided a warning or provided a handrail for the small section.

“I am satisfied that a warning not to use the vestibule when it was too crowded or a reminder that it would not always be possible to reach the handrail would more likely than not have reminded the plaintiff of the danger and caused her not to enter the vestibule at that point,” Smith wrote in his judgment, noting that failure to provide a warning is a breach of the company’s “standard of care.”

Smith also ruled Varma bears some responsibility for her fall.

“On her own evidence, she knew the step was there and knew, having entered the vestibule, that she had to cross an area with no handrails,” Smith wrote. “She was also familiar with the unpredictable nature of train movements.”

A hearing to determine the amount of damages is set for Nov. 2.

The post Court finds rail tour company largely at fault in fall appeared first on Kamloops This Week.