Canada Day killing trial in Kelowna on pause, continuation date unknown

The trial looking into the 2018 Canada Day killing of a Kelowna man may not conclude for a while. 

Nathan Truant and Noah Vaten are charged with manslaughter for their part in causing the death of Esa Carriere and their trial has been underway for several weeks. After going long, it adjourned last week to March 22, and at that point the court will fix a date for its continuation.

Late last week, however, the B.C. Provincial Court appointed several lawyers to the bench, and Crown counsel in this case, Martin Nadon, was among those listed.

He finished presenting substantial evidence in his case by Friday, March 12, but his new role will begin before the trial concludes. A new Crown counsel for the case counsel is yet to be assigned, communications counsel for the B.C. Prosecution Service said.

Nadon relied upon witness testimony, DNA, CCTV footage from cameras across the city, as well as RCMP testimony, to show that Vaten and Truant were among a group of people who fatally injured Carriere after chasing him down.

“At the end of the chase, which was near the rear of the Highway 97 bus stop, Carriere was either tripped or fell to the ground, and was then attacked by members of the group,” Nadon said as the trial got underway.

“He was punched and kicked while he was on the ground. During the attack, Mr. Carriere was stabbed once in the chest and it turned out to be fatal.”

As the trial carried on, the judge also viewed a jailhouse confession from Vaten, where he said he remembered realizing he stabbed Carriere just once, and feeling instantly regretful. That statement is being challenged by the defence on the grounds it wasn't voluntary and breached Vaten's charter right to a lawyer.

Carrier was 23 years old when he was killed. He had recently relocated to Kelowna from Mississauga, Ontario.

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