In The News | Homicide

STRATHMORE - A Chestermere teen charged with manslaughter after a fatal fist fight is not guilty of the crime. A collective gasp filled the packed Strathmore provincial courtroom yesterday as Judge Gordon Clozza read his verdict. "I find the accused did not have the necessary intent to cause bodily harm to the deceased...," he said. "I therefore find the accused not guilty of manslaughter." Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott and defence lawyer Patrick Fagan gave their final arguments March 22 in ...

A teenager accused of killing a schoolmate with one fatal blow was fed up of being called a mama's boy and a pansy. In a Strathmore courtroom Thursday, the fresh-faced teenager spoke calmly and articulately in public for the first time about the deadly fight -- his first fight ever -- between him and victim Tyler Trithart in a Chestermere park on May 25, 2001. ``It was to put an end to all this mama's boy and pansy stuff,'' testified ...

STRATHMORE - A teen on trial for manslaughter in a fatal pre-arranged fight had never punched anyone before and did not intend to inflict any serious harm on Tyler Trithart, he testified yesterday. The accused - who fought 16-year-old Trithart last May at James Peake Park in Chestermere - said problems between the two arose after he heard rumours that Trithart was calling him "a mama's boy" and "a pansy" behind his back. The 17-year-old accused, who was 16 at ...

Changing clothes before heading to duke it out with a classmate is a clear indication a teen charged with manslaughter knew blood would spill and someone would get hurt, court heard Friday. Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott said the act of changing from a sweater to a T-shirt proves the 17-year-old accused should be found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tyler Trithart. "He changed his shirt so the anticipated blood would not soil his nice sweater," Elliott told Judge ...

STRATHMORE - The decision on whether a deadly fight was a "freak" accident or a deliberate act now lies with an Alberta judge. Crown prosecutor Danny Elliott and defence lawyer Patrick Fagan gave their final arguments yesterday in the case of a 17-year-old charged with manslaughter in the death of the victim, 16. Fagan said his client, who can't be named under the Young Offenders Act, didn't mean to kill Trithart in the May 25 incident. "The result of the ...

On October 21, 1992, the accused beat and kicked the victim to death in downtown Calgary. At the ensuing trial in 1993, the two cousins were convicted of second-degree murder. But the Supreme Court of Canada, upon appeal, decided last year that the trial judge had not properly instructed himself on the finer points of drunkenness as a defence. Two weeks ago the retrial was cut short when the accused agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter. Between 1976 and 1988 …

A fatal fight between two Chestermere schoolmates was relived in court Tuesday before friends and family, many of whom wore pins and T-shirts bearing the victim's name. Strathmore's only courtroom was filled to capacity as five witnesses retold in detail how the victim, a 16-year-old Chestermere High School student, died after a blow to the head during a fight that was reportedly over a girl. The teen accused of killing him is charged with manslaughter. The first witness, a 17-year-old ...

The judgment Tuesday on a deadly fist fight opened a floodgate of emotion that poured over Strathmore's only courtroom. One boy walked from the courtroom, free to grow up, enjoy his friends, have a family and live his life -- albeit one that is inexorably changed. Another boy is dead, and as his father charged out of the courtroom after a not guilty verdict was read, he revealed the pain his family has suffered. The accused, a 17-year-old Chestermere boy, ...

One blow to the head was enough to kill a Chestermere teenager who entered into a deadly fight with a fellow high school student last spring. The 16-year-old boy was killed May 25, 2001, after he was knocked to the ground and punched several times by the accused, who is on trial charged with manslaughter in a Strathmore courtroom this week. The victim and the accused cannot be named under the Young Offenders Act. "I would suspect the fatal injury ...

The Supreme Court-ordered retrial of two men accused of murder came to a surprise conclusion Tuesday when the pair pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The accused, both 37, will serve two years and one year respectively in addition to the four years they have been in custody. "These decisions are always extremely difficult," Crown prosecutor Gary Belecki said of the protracted negotiations that led to the guilty pleas for the drunken beating death of the victim on ...

Robert McRobbie wishes he and friend Ranji Bhar had never come to the aid of a man being beaten in a parking lot outside a Macleod Trail bar last year. If they had just walked away, Bhar might still be alive, McRobbie said outside Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday after his friend’s killer was sent to jail for 15 months for manslaughter. “If I knew then what I know now, I should never have jumped to that man’s aid,” …

It began with a sucker punch, struck in drunken anger. It ended with tears and a plea for forgiveness. On Monday, SJE, 24, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the beating death of 37-year-old Ranji Bhar. The stocky, dark-haired Calgary man broke down several times, sobbing as he asked Bhar’s family for forgiveness. “If I had a chance to move back in time, I would,” SJE said, his voice a mumble as tears streamed down his cheeks. “But nothing can change …

A Chestermere teen accused in the beating death of schoolmate Tyler Trithart will have to wait another week to learn if his case will be moved to youth court. The teen’s lawyer, Pat Fagan, has made an application to have the second-degree murder charge heard in a court for young offenders, not in adult court as is protocol. Youths charged with first- or second-degree murder are automatically moved to adult court. The teen’s identity is protected under provisions of the …

The defence has hit a legal speed-bump in the case of a man charged with two counts of second-degree murder. The lawyer, Pat Fagan, was forced to withdraw from one of his client’s two cases Wednesday in Calgary provincial court. “Much to my chagrin and amazement, the Crown’s key witness is a former client of mine,” said Fagan, who learned of the conflict late last week. Legal guidelines dictate a lawyer cannot cross-examine a former client on behalf of a …

The accused is to make his initial appearance in a Calgary court today to face a charge in connection with the killing of a doughnut shop worker last month. The slaying of Bruce Allan Biso at a southeast Tim Hortons outlet is one of two slayings in which the accused, 33, is a suspect. The accused appeared in Cochrane provincial court Thursday in connection with the shooting death of Khang Vihn Diep, whose body was found in a ditch Aug. …

The estranged husband of a woman found murdered in her northwest home has been released by police but homicide detectives have not ruled him out as a person of interest. Terri Ann Dauphinais, 24, was found dead in her Citadel home Monday. Her three children — Gabriel, 4, Gideon, 2, and Caleb, eight months — were left alone with their mother’s body but were unharmed. They remain in protective custody. The accused, 27, was questioned by police late Monday and …

Police have released the name and a photograph of a man being sought in connection with a shooting last weekend. The accused, 27, is described as the ex-boyfriend of the female victim. “If you see him on the streets, just call police,” Det. Scott Sampson said Tuesday. The victim was shot through the door of her home in the 400 block of 29th Avenue N.E. around 9:40 p.m. Sunday. “She was at home alone and heard pounding on the door, …