The Crown wants an alleged Kamloops gangster convicted on a handful of property and firearm-related charges jailed up to three years.
Jason Robertson will learn his fate on Feb. 19.
He was convicted last year of six charges stemming from a series of high-profile police raids in 2014, including one on Robertson’s Arrowstone Drive home in Sahali.
Robertson and his wife were initially facing dozens of serious charges, but the majority were stayed before trial.
One of Robertson’s convictions — possession of two heritage rifles knowing they were obtained in the commission of an offence — carries with it a 12-month mandatory minimum jail sentence.
Defence lawyers Micah Rankin and Jeremy Jensen argued the legality of the mandatory minimum on Tuesday and B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Watchuk is expected to give her decision on the Charter challenge the same day Robertson is sentenced.
The Crown has alleged throughout that Robertson is involved in the drug trade, though he is not facing any drug-related charges.
“Mr. Robertson was a drug trafficker and trafficked out of that residence on Arrowstone Drive,” Crown prosecutor Evan Goulet said during sentencing submissions on Monday.
Goulet asked Watchuk to impose a prison sentence of two to three years, while Robertson’s lawyers asked for something in the range of six to nine months if their Charter challenge is successful.
If not, they argued for a sentence of 18 months in jail.
A petition to have a Kamloops sex offender expelled from an Alberta university has garnered more than 40,000 signatures, but the school has yet to make a decision.
Connor Neurauter was sentenced in Kamloops last week after pleading guilty to one count of sexual interference of a person under 16. He was handed a 90-day jail sentence, but the judge agreed to have it begin in May so Neurauter, 21, could finish his spring semester at the University of Calgary.
Court heard Neurauter was 18 when he struck up a relationship with a 13-year-old girl. The two met in person multiple times and engaged in sexual contact, but never had intercourse. Late in 2015, Neurauter began soliciting nude photos from the girl via Snapchat and threatening to share them with her family if she did not keep their prior relationship a secret.
Since being published in KTW last week, the story has made headlines across Canada and the United States.
The provision to allow Neurauter to complete his current semester before beginning his jail sentence is not sitting well with many people online.
A change.org petition urging the university to expel Neurauter, a former junior hockey player, had more than 40,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
The University of Calgary said it is reviewing Neurauter’s status.
Connor’s father, Chris Neurauter, told CBC in Calgary that is son is feeling distraught.
“He’s very upset. He’s trying to deal with it and work through it. He’s frustrated that he’s missing school,” Neurauter told CBC. “He’s very remorseful . . . he’s learned his lesson.”
Charges have been laid in connection with a fatal 2016 crash on the Coquihalla Highway south of Kamloops.
Linda Tom, 47, was killed on Aug. 30, 2016, when her southbound Suzuki Swift was hit from behind by a commercial truck near the Helmer brake check north of Merritt.
Tom’s daughter suffered injuries in the collision.
Shiva Kartik Raman is facing one count each of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 29.
At the time of the accident, RCMP said the driver of the truck, its lone occupant, suffered non-life threatening injuries, while Tom died at the scene. Police also said Tom was not wearing a seatbelt.
B.C.’s police watchdog is not recommending charges against the RCMP officer involved in a shooting in Salmon Arm last year, the shooting victim’s lawyer told KTW.
“The case is done from the IIO’s (Independent Investigations Office of B.C.) perspective in the sense their mandate is to determine whether or not the police officers broke the law,” defence lawyer Matt Ford said.
“They have decided not to recommend charges against the officer.”
Ford is representing Kayman Winter, who survived after he was shot in the head on Jan. 30, 2017, by a Mountie. Winter was allegedly breaking into Xcalibur Car Wash in Salmon Arm.
The Crown alleges Winter used his pickup truck as a weapon when shots were fired, but the case has been under review by IIO, Ford earlier told KTW the agency had seized a wide array of evidence following the shooting.
Ford said he and Crown prosecutor Carol Hawes have obtained copies of the 172-page report that has yet to be made public. He would not provide details as to what evidence led to the findings, noting a public report will be made available online in the coming weeks or months.
Winter is facing multiple charges related to the incident. His case will be back before the courts in Kamloops on Jan. 25, when he is expected to enter some guilty and some non-guilty pleas.
The trial of a Kamloops man accused of stabbing an acquaintance to death in a Valleyview motel room in 2016 will begin later this month with a hearing to determine whether police violated his right to remain silent.
Lawyers met in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Tuesday to go over the plan for Gordon Camille’s manslaughter trial, which will begin with voir dires on the voluntariness of statements he made to police, as well as his rights to silence and to a lawyer.
A voir dire is held to determine whether certain evidence is admissible at trial.
Dennis Adolph, 49, was found dead in a suite in the 4 Seasons Motel at 1767 Trans Canada Hwy. E. on Jan. 26, 2016. Camille, 66, was arrested on Feb. 5 and initially charged with murder. That charge was later reduced to manslaughter.
Camille’s voir dire, which will begin on Jan. 29, is expected to run two weeks. The hearing will include nearly 17 hours of video and audio recordings taken following Adolph’s death and after Camille’s arrest.
Evidence at trial, in front of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes, is slated to begin on Feb. 19.
The driver of a speedboat involved in a fatal nighttime collision with a houseboat on Shuswap Lake more than seven years ago is set to make his next appearance in B.C.’s highest court, though a date for the appeal of his 2015 conviction has not been set.
Leon Reinbrecht, now 55, was at the helm of his speedboat on the evening of July 3, 2010, on Magna Bay following a post-Canada Day fireworks display.
Reinbrecht was driving recklessly — witnesses described him doing donuts and speeding near shore on the busy waters — when his vessel collided with a slow-moving houseboat. Reinbrecht’s speedboat ended up inside the houseboat.
Ken Brown, the houseboat’s operator, was killed. Other passengers suffered a variety of injuries.
At trial, Reinbrecht’s lawyers argued Brown’s houseboat was not properly lit.
Reinbrecht stood trial and was convicted in October 2015. Following a series of lengthy constitutional challenges by his lawyers, he was sentenced the following year to three-and-a-half years in federal prison.
It took 17 months from the time of the crash for the Crown to bring charges against Reinbrecht, but that delay did not form part of the defence’s argument. Defence lawyer Joe Doyle argued the 46 months of delay from the time of the charge to conviction was not the fault of his client, a delay he pinned on the courts and Crown. The case had seen one Crown lawyer retire and hand over responsibility to another, while Reinbrecht used three lawyers. Delays were also caused by Reinbrecht’s fight to obtain legal-aid funding and a key Crown witness’s pregnancy.
However, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan, who found Reinbrecht guilty, spent two hours in explaining why she was dismissing the constitutional challenges based on delays.
“There is a societal interest in ensuring accused are tried on their merits,” Donegan said in her decision. “The societal interest in the completion of this trial is high, so when I weigh and balance all these factors, I am satisfied Mr. Reinbrecht’s right to a fair trial has not been infringed in this case.”
An appeal was filed on Reinbrecht’s behalf almost immediately and he was granted bail by the B.C. Court of Appeal four days later. The appeal filed argues Donegal erred when she ruled Reinbrecht’s Charter rights were not breached by delays in prosecution and the trial itself.
A case-management hearing in the B.C. Court of Appeal is scheduled for Jan. 29. An appeal date has not yet been set.
Editor’s note: this story contains graphic content some readers may find disturbing.
A man described in court as a former pillar of the Barriere community was ordered Thursday to spend seven months in prison after admitting to possessing child pornography, including a number of images of children as young as five involved in sexual acts.
Al Kirkwood, the North Thompson town’s former fire chief who also served as the publisher of community newspapers in Barriere and Clearwater, was taken into custody by deputy sheriffs following an hour-long hearing in Kamloops provincial court.
The 63-year-old pleaded guilty during a brief hearing last year to one count of possession of child pornography.
Search warrants were executed by police on Oct. 4, 2016, at Kirkwood’s Barriere home, as well as the town firehall and the offices of the North Thompson Star Journal and the Clearwater Times.
Crown prosecutor Frank Caputo said child pornography — still images and videos — was found on three devices seized from Kirkwood’s home. Some showed children posing with their genitals exposed and others depicted oral sex involving both other children and adults. One video described by Caputo showed a six-year-old girl performing oral sex on an adult male.
“This wasn’t simply exposure,” he said. “There are actual sexual acts being depicted. This isn’t just at the lower end because there is more than just exposure.”
Defence lawyer Michael Shapray said Kirkwood has shown remorse since the offence.
“Mr. Kirkwood lived an exemplary life,” Shapray said. “He was a community figure — a pillar.”
Court heard Kirkwood spent 23 years as Barriere’s fire chief after working for a time as the town’s grocer.
“For someone who gave everything to his community, the destruction of his reputation, his family’s reputation and everything he’s built up is complete,” Shapray said, noting Kirkwood’s Barriere home was the target of a vigilante arsonist after news of his charges became public.
“He’s someone who will have to live with that, by his own conduct.”
Shapray said Kirkwood attributed some of his offending to post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered following the devastating 2003 fires in the North Thompson Valley. But, Shapray added, Kirkwood holds himself responsible for his actions.
“He’s embarrassed by this,” Shapray said. “He’s remorseful and he accepts responsibility.”
Kamloops provincial court Judge Marianne Armstrong acknowledged Kirkwood has suffered “almost crippling shame and humiliation,” but held that child pornography is “a cancer” to society.
“It is a horrible, horrible crime,” she said. “It involves, essentially, the abuse of children for the satisfaction of others.”
In addition to the time behind bars, Armstrong placed Kirkwood on an 18-month probation term with orders barring him from visiting parks, playgrounds and pools. He will also be prohibited from owning a smartphone and can only access the internet under the supervision of his wife.
For 10 years, Kirkwood will be barred from working or volunteering in any role that puts him in a position of authority over children. He is also required to register as a sex offender for a decade and must submit a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.
A preliminary inquiry is underway in Kamloops provincial court for a man accused of murder in an alleged altercation in an RV park nearly 12 months ago.
Cody Foster, 26, was found dead following an incident in an RV park in the 9000-block of Dallas Drive, just east of the BC Wildlife Park.
Stephen George Fraser, 56, was arrested a short time later and has been in custody since facing one count of second-degree murder.
Fraser’s preliminary inquiry began on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
Preliminary inquiries are hearings after which a judge determines whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, and allegations presented at them are protected by publication bans.
At the time of the alleged murder, a resident in the park told KTW the victim lived in the park and the incident took place in a trailer on the property.
Police said they were called to the park at about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2017, for a report of a disturbance. Investigators have said they arrived to find a group of people holding Fraser down. Foster’s body was found nearby.
An area of the park was subsequently cordoned off by police tape. Forensic officers could be seen emerging from a trailer while plainclothes detectives roamed the park speaking to potential witnesses.
Eight days of hearings to determine whether police violated a Kamloops man’s rights to silence and legal counsel after his motel roommate was stabbed to death in 2016 began on Monday with descriptions of the alleged crime scene.
Gordon Camille, 67, is charged with manslaughter in connection with the 2016 death of Dennis Adolph, 49. Camille had been charged with second-degree murder, but that charge was reduced.
Adolph’s body was found in a room in the 4 Seasons Motel in Valleyview.
Kamloops RCMP Const. Joseph Bayda was the first witness to testify in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Monday. He said he was the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the death just before 11:45 a.m. on Jan. 26, 2016.
Bayda said he entered the room and saw Adolph lying on the floor.
“The deceased was laying in between two beds in the room, his feet pointed towards the ends of the beds and his head towards the heads of the beds,” Bayda said. “He did not have a shirt on. There were AED (automatic external defibrillator) pads on his chest from where paramedics and firefighters had applied them. He had pyjama bottoms still on.”
Bayda said Adolph appeared to have been stabbed.
“There was a one-inch or one-and-a-half-inch wound to his lower left abdomen, which I would describe as a stab wound based on my experience,” Bayda said, noting he then backed out of the room and began talking to Camille, who was standing just outside.
After taking his name and birthdate, Bayda said he asked Camille about his living situation.
“He mentioned that he’d been staying there one or two months,” Bayda said. “He said Mr. Adolph, who he referred to as his nephew, had been staying with him for a short time.”
During the hearings, a voir dire expected to conclude on Feb. 7, prosecutors are expected to play 17 hours of video and audio recordings of four interviews of Camille by police — one on the day of Adolph’s death and the others following his arrest on Feb. 5, 2016.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes is expected to make a ruling on the evidence prior to Camille’s trial, which is slated to begin on Feb. 19.
The trial for a Kamloops man accused of beating a teen into a coma in June 2016 will take place in Kelowna later this year.
Kristopher Teichrieb is charged with attempted murder. His trial is set to begin on Oct. 15. Six weeks have been set aside.
Teichrieb, 41, has been in custody since the early-morning hours of June 19, 2016, when he is alleged to have assaulted Jessie Simpson, who was then 18.
Simpson, who is now 20 and remains in hospital, was assaulted at Holt Street and Clifford Avenue in Brocklehurst, not far from Teichrieb’s home.
Simpson’s friends and family have said the teen was celebrating high school graduation the night before the attack and may have been searching for a group of friends when he was attacked.
After spending months in a coma, Simpson began to wake up following brain surgery in early 2017. Since then, his health has fluctuated and he has been transferred from his room at Royal Inland Hospital to the facility’s intensive-care unit multiple times.
In June 2017, a judge declared Simpson legally infirm, appointing his mother to act on his behalf.
In November 2017, Teichrieb’s lawyer, Jordan Watt, filed an application to move the trial from Kamloops to Kelowna due to the notoriety of the incident, in order to give his client a fair trial.
A Shuswap-area man with ties to a rural property on which police found the remains of a missing woman is facing three new charges alleging he assaulted sex-trade workers.
Curtis Wayne Sagmoen, 37, was charged on Wednesday with one count each of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and assault stemming from alleged incidents in July and August.
RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the charges involve two victims, both of whom had been working in the sex trade, advertising their services online.
Moskaluk said the incidents are alleged to have taken place near 2290 Salmon River Rd. in Silver Creek, a property that was the site of a large-scale RCMP search beginning last October.
The search turned up the remains of Traci Genereaux, 18, who had been missing since May.
Sagmoen has been in custody since late last summer on charges alleging he threatened a woman with a firearm.
He is expected to make his first appearance on the new charges in Vernon provincial court on Feb. 19.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has begun listening to 17 hours of recorded audio and video of a Kamloops man’s interactions with police before and after his arrest nearly two years ago following the stabbing death of his nephew.
Gordon Camille, 67, is facing one count of manslaughter in connection with the Jan. 26, 2016, death of 49-year-old Dennis Adolph. The two men had been living as roommates in 4 Seasons Motel in Valleyview prior to Adolph’s death.
Defence lawyer Ken Walker is arguing Camille’s Charter rights were violated by police after his arrest on Feb. 5, 2016 — the rights to remain silent and to access legal counsel.
If Walker is successful, the Crown will not be able to use some or all of the recordings — major elements of the case against Camille — when his trial begins next month. The interviews culminate in a confession, court has heard.
In audio recordings played in court on Wednesday, Camille could be heard telling police he would not speak to them. On some of those occasions, officers changed the subject and began asking Camille about his arthritis or whether he was hungry.
“I’ve got nothing to say,” he told an investigator on the night of his arrest after speaking by phone to a legal-aid lawyer.
The next morning, Camille was led into an interview room by two plainclothes Mounties.
“Are you a lawyer?” he asked one officer, RCMP Cpl. Tyler Bell, a short time after entering the room.
“No, I’m one of the police officers,” Bell replied. “I just wanted to check and see how you are doing. Have you had something to eat?”
Camille did not immediately address the question about food.
“I thought a lawyer was coming,” he told Bell, who later gave Camille a breakfast sandwich and a coffee. Later in the day, police provided the accused with McDonald’s food for lunch. Bell also gave Camille, whose hearing is impaired, a pair of hearing aids.
In another audio clip played in court, an RCMP corporal can be heard later the same day asking Camille whether he was hungry while escorting him to the washroom during a break in more than six hours of questioning from investigators.
Camille said no.
“It’s just the pressure,” he said. “I lost my appetite.”
Court has previously heard Adolph was found shirtless on the floor of his room at the motel with a single stab wound to the stomach and that Camille alerted the motel manager to call police.
When emergency crews responded, Camille was standing just outside the room. He spoke with police at the scene and told them he and Adolph, his nephew, had been living together in the room for a short time prior to the incident.
Camille told firefighters at the scene that Adolph had been out and was in a fight, coming home favouring his side. In an interview with police the day of Adolph’s death, Camille denied having anything to do with it.
Camille has been in custody since his arrest. He was initially charged with second-degree murder, but that charge was later reduced.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes is expected to make a ruling on the evidence before Camille’s judge-alone trial, which is scheduled to begin on Feb. 19.
A Shuswap-area man with ties to a rural property on which police found the remains of a missing woman is facing three new charges alleging he assaulted sex-trade workers.
Curtis Wayne Sagmoen, 37, was charged on Wednesday with one count each of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and assault stemming from alleged incidents in July and August.
RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the charges involve two victims, both of whom had been working in the sex trade, advertising their services on websites backpage.ca and backpage.com.
Moskaluk said the incidents are alleged to have taken place near 2290 Salmon River Rd. in Silver Creek, a property that was the site of a large-scale RCMP search beginning last October.
The search turned up the remains of Traci Genereaux, 18, who had been missing since May.
Sagmoen has been in custody since late last summer on charges alleging he threatened a woman with a firearm.
He is expected to make his first appearance on the new charges in Vernon provincial court on Feb. 19.
A Kamloops man accused of stabbing his roommate to death in 2016 denied any part in the slaying and repeatedly invoked his Charter right to silence during hours of interviews before eventually confessing to police, court has heard.
Gordon Camille, 67, is charged with manslaughter in connection with the Jan. 26, 2016, death of his nephew, Dennis Adolph. The 49-year-old was found dead on the floor of his room in the 4 Seasons Motel with one stab wound to the abdomen.
Camille, who shared the room with Adolph, remained at the scene when first responders arrived. Court has heard Camille told a firefighter Adolph had earlier left the motel and returned favouring his side. According to Camille, he tried waking Adolph after finding him on the floor. When Camille realized Adolph was dead, Camille said, he went to the motel manager and asked him to call police.
In an interview with police on the night of Adolph’s death, Camille denied any responsibility.
Camille was arrested 10 days later, on Feb. 5, 2016.
Defence lawyer Ken Walker is arguing police violated Camille’s Charter rights to silence and access to legal counsel during a series of hours-long interviews following his arrest. If Walker is successful, the interviews — which culminate in a confession, court has heard — could be ruled out as evidence.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes began listening to the audio and video recordings on Monday, Jan. 29. On Friday, Feb. 2, court saw and heard recordings of Camille’s first post-arrest interview with RCMP Cpl. Tyler Bell.
In the video, Camille is wearing a long-sleeved white T-shirt and blue jeans. He is sitting in a small room across from Bell, who is dressed in a shirt and tie. The two men often place their elbows on their knees and lean in toward each other while in conversation.
Camille spent most of the interview detailing a sad upbringing and life that included time in residential school. He talked about friends overdosing, failed relationships, past injuries and the murder of his twin brother.
At one point, Camille refused to answer Bell’s questions.
“I’m not saying anything,” Camille said.
“We seem to have talked a lot about some not-so-good times in your life,” Bell replied.
“One of them is right now,” Camille shot back.
“We can move away from that,” Bell said. “Tell me about the best time in your life. What is your best memory?”
“I don’t have any good memories,” Camille replied. “I wish I was never born. I’ve seen too many bad times in my life.”
In the video, Bell then attempted to get Camille to turn things around.
“Today is the day to go, ‘Whatever I’m left with, now is to do the right thing in life,'” the detective said. “You should do the right thing, whatever that is.”
Bell then pleaded with Camille to tell him what he knew about Adolph’s death.
“My lawyer told me to keep my mouth shut,” Camille said. “I’m going to keep that end of the bargain.”
“No problem, Gordon,” Bell replied. “I don’t know if anyone’s ever asked you this yet — did you kill Dennis?”
“No,” Camille said.
“OK,” Bell replied. “Then that gives us a point to start with then. If you didn’t kill Dennis, then part of my job is to say, ‘Gordon didn’t kill Dennis.'”
Bell told Camille he would tell the other investigators he didn’t do it.
“My lawyer said not to talk to you guys and I’d like to keep that end of the bargain,” Camille replied.
After questioning from Bell about who might be responsible, Camille suggested Adolph could have been attacked over a drug debt.
“I told him drugs can kill you in many ways,” Camille said. “Not just the chemical itself, but the pushers.”
Camille said he was very intoxicated the night before he woke up to find Adolph dead. He told Bell he did what he could when he found the body — he alerted the motel manager and asked him to call police.
“Is it possible that you caused the injuries to Dennis?” Bell asked.
“I don’t think so because I’ve known him all these years,” Camille replied.
“I just want to clarify this: Is it possible?” Bell asked again.
“I don’t think so,” Camille replied.
“But is it possible?” Bell asked a third time.
“No, it’s not possible,” Camille said, raising his voice.
The hearing to listen to 17 hours of recordings is expected to conclude early next week. Holmes is expected to make a decision on the evidence before Camille’s judge-alone trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 19.
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A Kamloops sex offender who garnered headlines across Canada and around the world last month when a judge put his jail sentence on hold until May so he could finish his semester at university will be behind bars later this week.
Connor Neurauter, 21, pleaded guilty last year to one count of sexual interference of a person under 16 stemming from a relationship he had with a 13-year-old girl in 2015. He was 18 at the time.
Following the brief relationship, Neurauter threatened to share nude photos of the young girl with her family.
He was sentenced on Jan. 4 to 90 days in jail, but a Kamloops judge postponed Neurauter’s incarceration at the request of his lawyer, who asked for the delay so his client could finish his academic year at the University of Calgary.
The story on Neurauter, which initially appeared only in KTW, was picked up by other media outlets and sparked outrage online. More than 75,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging the University of Calgary to expel him and that number continues to grow.
While university administrators stopped short of such a penalty, they did urge Neurauter to stay off campus for the time being — a move slammed by the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, which called it a “de facto expulsion.”
In Kamloops provincial court on Monday, Feb. 5, Neurauter asked Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison to reverse course on the deferred sentence and allow him to serve his time on weekends. Harrison was the sentencing judge who agreed to put Neurauter’s imprisonment on hold in January.
“I made a determination it was appropriate Mr. Neurauter be permitted to serve his sentence in an intermittent fashion [one nominal day on Jan. 4 and 89 days beginning in May] that would allow him to finish his schooling,” the judge said. “I gather that has not panned out.”
Defence lawyer Ken Sommerfeld said his client has a job that sees him work four days a week. Sommerfeld added that Neurater is taking courses through distance learning.
Harrison agreed with the proposal.
“I’m satisfied it is appropriate to allow Mr. Neurauter employment and home study … while he observes the punishment imposed by law,” Harrison said.
With that, an unnamed observer stood up in the courtroom gallery and began shouting.
“Absolute horse shit, your honour,” he said, walking from his seat to the doors of the courtroom. “You’re out of your mind. Absolutely out of your mind.”
A deputy sheriff followed the man out of the courtroom.
Outside court, Neurauter said he was going to attack the man, who had by then left the courthouse.
“Who is this guy?” he said. “I’m going to smash his teeth in.”
Neurauter will serve his sentence from Friday evenings to Sunday afternoons beginning this coming weekend.
A convicted murderer took the witness stand on Tuesday in a Kamloops courtroom, testifying against his co-accused in a deadly drive-by shooting in a sleepy Shuswap town more than six years ago.
Nick Larsen, 24, was shot to death in Blind Bay in the early-morning hours of June 1, 2011. Jordan Barnes and Jeremy Davis were arrested and charged with murder in 2014.
Barnes pleaded guilty in 2016 and was handed an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 10 years. Davis’ trial began on Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court, with Barnes wiping tears from his eyes while describing Larsen’s murder.
Barnes said he met Larsen hours before the murder while attempting to buy cocaine. Court heard Larsen kicked in the door of Barnes’ Sorrento home and pointed a handgun at him.
“He said I can’t be dealing in this town,” Barnes said. ”I wanted to get half an ounce. He thought I was moving into his territory. I just remember seeing a gun and seeing red. I snapped.”
Barnes said he was drunk at the time and had been using cocaine earlier in the evening. He also admitted to having sold marijuana and sometimes accepting firearms as payment.
“I was threatened,” Barnes said. “He was saying I couldn’t sell drugs in that town because I wanted to by a half ounce. It was a lot.”
Barnes said he told Larsen to leave his house. He then phoned Davis, his friend, for a ride. According Barnes, he and Davis would “go shooting” together, sometimes in a gravel pit near Sorrento.
“I wanted to go beat up Nick,” Barnes said. “That was my intention. I said I had a problem, shit went down at my house, my door was kicked in. … He [Davis] said he’s not far.”
Davis picked Barnes up a short time later, court heard.
“We got on the highway and turned left on Blind Bay Road,” Barnes said. “I said he’s in a red car. It didn’t take long at all before I’d seen the red car. I told him to pull in front of it.”
According to Barnes, that’s when his intention to beat up Larsen changed.
“I had a baton in my hand,” he said. “That’s what I was going to use to hit him with. But when we slammed on the brakes, a gun slid out from under my seat.”
Barnes said he grabbed the weapon and got out of Davis’ GMC Jimmy.
“I jumped out and started firing,” he said. “I was on the back of the truck holding on.”
When asked by Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan, Barnes could not recall the number of shots he fired, but said it was definitely more than one.
Barnes said he got back in the Jimmy and both vehicles fled.
“Did Mr. Davis say anything to you?” Flanagan asked.
“Yeah,” Barnes replied. “He was calling me an idiot. He asked me where I wanted to be dropped off. I said I knew a place to go.”
Court heard Barnes had Davis drive him to a secluded rural property where his friend lived. Barnes said he hid the gun inside an RV he stored on the property, then went to sleep in his truck, which was parked nearby.
Following Barnes’ testimony, the trial is scheduled to resume in April.
Video surveillance played in a Kamloops courtroom on Tuesday shows the victim of a fatal stabbing appearing to clutch an area near his wound hours before he was found dead, potentially contradicting the Crown theory that he was injured in an altercation inside his motel room.
Dennis Adolph was found dead on Jan. 26, 2016, with a stab wound to his abdomen. Adolph, 49, shared the 4 Seasons Motel room in Valleyview with Gordon Camille, who was arrested 10 days later and charged with murder.
Camille’s charge was later reduced to manslaughter. A hearing began last week to determine what evidence will be permitted to be presented at trial.
Defence lawyer Ken Walker is arguing police violated Camille’s Charter rights to silence and access to legal counsel during hours of interviews in the days after his arrest.
Court has watched and listened to 17 hours of audio and video recordings of police interactions with Camille before and after his arrest.
Camille has said he woke up and found Adolph dead.
Camille spoke to firefighters at the scene, telling them Adolph had come home favouring his side. In video surveillance played in court on Tuesday, Adolph can be seen walking to the room he shared with Camille appearing to clutch his stomach, though his back is facing the camera.
The clip of Adolph returning to the room was taken at 6:15 a.m. At 6:52 a.m., Camille can be seen on video leaving the room, walking toward the office and then returning to the room. At 11:15 a.m., he leaves the room again and asks the manager to 911.
Court has heard police found a knife inside the motel room. Under cross-examination from Walker, RCMP Cpl. Tyler Bell said he did not make any notes about the room looking like it had been the scene of a fight.
In hours of interviews with Bell, Camille initially denied having anything to do with Adolph’s death. Over time, he admitted there had been some animosity between the two.
In the video of the interview, Camille told Bell he was tired of Adolph taking his debit card to buy booze.
Eventually, after repeated questions from Bell, Camille admitted Adolph might still be alive if he didn’t know the pass code for the card.
“I always thought he was using me, the bank card,” Camille said.
Camille’s vague admissions were interspersed with angry outbursts, denials and extended silence when he decided to stop speaking to Bell.
“If you’re not the one who gave Dennis injuries, I’m trying to figure out who is,” Bell said at one point.
“I don’t know,” Camille replied. “I’m tired of being a scapegoat.”
If Walker is successful in his argument, some or all of the videotaped interviews — major elements of the Crown’s case against Camille — could become inadmissible at trial.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes is expected to give a decision on the evidence before Feb. 19, when Camille’s judge-alone trial is slated to begin.
A trial date has been set for a Shuswap man charged with murder in relation to a 2016 hit-and-run crash that killed a motorcyclist.
Raymond Edward Swann was ordered to stand trial following a preliminary inquiry last month. His four-week B.C. Supreme Court trial is scheduled to begin on July 16 in front of a Kamloops jury.
Swann was originally charged with criminal negligence causing death in connection to the April 3, 2016, crash on Squilax-Anglemont Road near Chase that killed 60-year-old Brian Watson, a facilities painter with School District 73. Last year, prosecutors laid an additional charge of second-degree murder.
Swann, who is from Sorrento, is not in custody.
Lawyers are expected to return to court on March 27 for a pre-trial conference.