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Murder
TAYLOR TRIAL: If teen was rushed to hospital after injuries, death could have been prevented, doctor says
KAMLOOPS — The injuries to a teen’s head, neck and chest were severe enough to cause her death, but the 16-year-old girl could have been saved if she had received immediate medical attention, a jury has heard. Dr. Gilles Molgat, the pathologist who performed the autopsy of CJ Fowler, testified in Kamloops Supreme Court today,...
Vernon men charged with murder return to court
VERNON - A pair of local men accused in the murder of 42-year-old Jason Hardy were in Vernon Provincial Court again this week. Brandon Joseph Clayton Wellington, 18, and Tal Kalum La Riviere, 28, both face second degree murder charges in relation to Hardy’s death. A 14-year-old Greater Vernon boy, whose name is protected under...
New murder charge laid in connection with Vernon death
VERNON - Police have arrested a third person for murder in connection with the death of 42-year-old Jason Hardy, whose body was found in Polson Park Aug. 26. Tal Kalum La Riviere, 28, from Greater Vernon, was arrested in Kamloops Sept. 9 and charged with one count of second degree murder. He was scheduled to...
Vernon teen accused of murder to have no contact with three people
VERNON - A local teen charged with murder has been ordered not to have any contact with his co-accused — a 14-year-old boy — and two other young men from Vernon. Brandon Joseph Clayton Wellington, 18, appeared in Vernon Provincial Court today, Sept. 9 on one count of second degree murder in the death of...
Two teens, ages 14 and 18, arrested for murder in Vernon death
VERNON - Police have arrested two teenagers for second degree murder in the death of Jason Hardy, whose body was found in Polson Park last week. One of the teens is a 14 year old male. He and 18-year-old Brandon Wellington were arrested Aug. 31. Both are residents of the Greater Vernon area, RCMP Const....
Accused murderer talks about everything but his uncle’s death
LANGUAGE AND CONTENT ADVISORY KAMLOOPS – Shane Gyoba was conversational on several topics during an…
UPDATE: Ed Gyoba was out of options for dealing with nephew before he was killed, wife says
KAMLOOPS — Shane Takeshi Gyoba was ‘broken’ in the years leading up to his uncle’s…
Judge to decide on guilty plea after accused says he killed his ‘possessed’ ex-girlfriend
KAMLOOPS - The accused in Kamloops’ only murder of 2014 pleaded guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend but now a judge will have to decide whether to accept it after hearing the accused's belief he killed a 'demon' to protect himself. Christopher Frank Butler, born 1973, pleaded guilty in Kamloops Supreme Court today, Aug. 5 after...
Police confirm identity of Black Mountain murder victim but still no arrests
KELOWNA – RCMP have confirmed the identity of the man found murdered in his home on Black Mountain earlier this week. The body of Amardeep Singh Ahluwalia, 47, was found in his home on Feedham Avenue in the early morning hours of July 7. Police have said very little about the cause of death but...
Police arrest, charge 62-year-old man for Bernard Ave. murder
KELOWNA – A 62-year-old Kelowna man has been arrested and charged with the murder of…
Murdered Penticton man remembered as a diligent worker
PENTICTON - The man murdered in Penticton last week was a father of four and worked at the Copper Mountain Mine. Frank Armitage worked with Darren Leadbeater, 36, the person police named yesterday as the man murdered at Golden Sands Resort in Penticton, and says he was shocked when he learned of his co-worker's death. “I knew...
RCMP confirm death at Penticton motel was murder
PENTICTON – Seven days after shots were fired and a man’s body was found at a home in Penticton, police have confirmed the death as a homicide today. RCMP have also confirmed the murder victim’s name. Darren Leadbeater, 36, of Penticton was originally from Fort McMurray, Alta. Police responded to a call about shots fired...
Convicted murderer who rammed police in stolen truck released
KELOWNA – A convicted murderer who Justice Peter Rogers calls a 'serial criminal' will be released from custody later today despite using a stolen truck to ram a police car just one year after being released from prison. Daniel Mader, 31, was sentenced to time served Wednesday in Kelowna Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty to...
Murdered woman’s family hear of death through media
PENTICTON – The family of Roxanne Louie continues to feel shock and pain today after…
Convicted killer due for sentencing for ramming police car
"IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT PERIODS OF INCARCERATION HAVE AFFECTED HIM." KELOWNA – A Kelowna man with an extensive criminal history is being sentenced for using a stolen truck to ram a police car as he tried to evade arrest only one year after being released from prison for a 2005 manslaughter conviction. "It was only...
‘My son is psychotic and he’s just hit my wife with a hammer,’ court hears
GROSSMITH MURDER TRIAL TO FOCUS ON EXTENT OF MENTAL DISORDER AND CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY KELOWNA - On Sept. 13, 2012, Conor Frederick Grossmith, then 24, ate dinner and played cards with his parents just a few hours before he hit his mother in the head with a hammer as she lay in her bed. Six days...
Local bus drivers plan moment of silence for murdered passenger
KELOWNA – The moment the funeral for the man stabbed to death on a Kelowna bus last week begins in Vancouver, close to 30 local transit buses will pull to the side of the road for a minute of silence honouring the man who so faithfully used their service over the past two years. Caesar...
Police need help solving five-year-old murder
KELOWNA – Five years after Kelowna resident Christopher Daniel Hetu died from multiple gunshots at a park in Kelowna, police are still looking for clues about what happened. Hetu, an unemployed construction worker who was 20 at the time of his death, was found in Millbridge Park suffering from three to five gunshot wounds in...
Convicted killer Foerster back in court for sex worker assault and home invasion charges
KELOWNA – A lawyer for the man convicted of murdering Taylor Van Diest will be back in Kelowna court Friday to deal with a pair of unrelated charges. Matthew Foerster will either enter a guilty plea or fix a date for trial relating to incidents which took place in 2004 and 2005, according to Crown prosecutors....
Matthew Foerster to appeal first degree murder conviction
ARMSTRONG - The man convicted of brutally killing an Armstrong teen is appealing his first degree murder verdict. A jury found Matthew Foerster, 28, guilty of murdering Taylor Van Diest, 18, in April of this year. The verdict carries an automatic life sentence, with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. But a notice of...
House party killer appeal shot down
KELOWNA - A 29-year-old Kelowna man convicted of shooting and killing a high school student at a house party in 2007 will not be granted appeal, according to a hearing summary released Thursday. Trevor Shannon, who was 22 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison in 2012. He maintains he was trying to...
Bacon murder trial will stay in Kelowna
KELOWNA – A Supreme Court Justice has ruled that the trial of three men accused…
One year later, police still need help solving Glenmore murder
KELOWNA – One year after a Kelowna woman was found murdered in her Glenmore home, RCMP are still no closer to identifying a suspect. The body of Theresa Ashley Neville was found by paramedics shortly after midnight June 18 and an autopsy revealed Neville was murdered. Frank Schlief says he rented the home to Neville,...
Arrests made in three year old drive-by murder case
KELOWNA – A pair of arrests have been made in a drive-by shooting that left a Shuswap man dead in 2011. Jeremy Wayne Davis, 24, of Williams Lake and Jordan Larry Barnes, 27, of Mission, have both been charged with second degree murder for the killing of Nicholas Larsen, 24, who was shot while driving...