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Court

Trial postponed for Armstrong man facing animal cruelty charges

VERNON - The trial of a man accused of mistreating a large herd of horses in Armstrong has been postponed. Gary Roberts, 69, was scheduled to begin a three-day trial in Vernon Provincial Court Monday, Nov. 9 on charges of causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal, failing to provide necessities, and uttering threats...

Lawyers deliver closing remarks on Kamloops manslaughter case before jury decides

KAMLOOPS - The case against a man accused of setting a fire which caused the death of one of his house guests has concluded and now jurors are being asked to consider if one of the key witnesses in the case was honest or started the fire himself. Crown Prosecutor Neil Flanagan and defence counsel...

Sentencing postponed for man who killed girlfriend as court examines his mental health

KAMLOOPS - A man who confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend and pleaded guilty will not be sentenced now that his lawyers have requested a hearing to determine if suffered from a mental illness at the time of the incident. Christopher Frank Butler appeared in Kamloops Supreme Court today, Oct. 30 with two lawyers to request...

Vernon man sentenced to jail time for child porn possession

VERNON - A Vernon man snared in a nation-wide child pornography investigation has been put behind bars. Rylan Sandberg, 46, was one of 150 Canadians arrested as a result of the investigation, which began in February 2014. A 49-year-old Vernon man and a 29-year-old Kelowna man were also arrested. Sandberg pleaded guilty to possession of...

Vernon man accused of murder released from custody

VERNON - An 18-year-old Vernon man accused of murder is no longer in custody. Brandon Wellington, who stands accused of second degree murder in connection with the death of Jason Hardy, was released on bail Monday, Oct. 26. His bail is set at $10,000 and he must adhere to a number of court-ordered conditions.  Greater...

Man accused in Armstrong woman’s death ordered to stand trial

VERNON - The man accused of killing an Armstrong mother of two has been ordered to stand trial. Logan Scott, 31, of Salmon Arm was charged with manslaughter and theft under $5,000 in August 2014, nine months after Jillian McKinty, 27, was found dead in her Armstrong home. Following a preliminary inquiry this week in...

Splatsin First Nation launches lawsuit against B.C. government

ENDERBY - A local First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the B.C. government accusing it of ignoring the band's jurisdiction over the welfare of its children.  The Splatsin First Nation in Enderby served the province a notice of claim during a rally outside Premier Christy Clark’s constituency office in Kelowna Tuesday, Oct. 13. The...

Dangerous driver who killed two passengers arguing charter violation negates conviction

KAMLOOPS - A man convicted of dangerous driving killing his two passengers could have his guilty verdict overturned if lawyers successfully prove key evidence in the case against him was in violation of his charter right against unreasonable search and seizure. Defence lawyers Micah Rankin and Anthony Varesi appeared in the B.C. Court of Appeal...

TAYLOR TRIAL: Jurors will hear final arguments next week before deliberating verdict

KAMLOOPS - Both the Crown and the defence have finished presenting their evidence in the Damien Taylor murder trial in Kamloops and jurors will hear closing submissions from lawyers next week. Taylor is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend CJ Fowler. The 16-year-old’s body was found December 5, 2012 near a...

Guilty verdict for dangerous driver who hit Vernon firefighter with truck

VERNON - A man has been found guilty of hitting a North Okanagan firefighter with his truck. Ian Douglas Burns, 28, was convicted of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the June 26, 2013 incident this week in Vernon Provincial Court. The victim, Stephan Hidasi, a firefighter with the BX/Swan Lake Fire Department,...

Lumby murder trial rescheduled for 2016

VERNON - A Lumby man accused of murdering a local teacher will stand trial in the spring of 2016. Howard Everett Krewson, 55, faces one count of second degree murder in relation to the death of his 51-year-old girlfriend, Linda Ross, a teacher at the Vernon School District’s Alternative Learning Program. Krewson’s trial was scheduled...

SNELSON: How the sentence for a Kelowna killer breaks down

IS IT 11 YEARS, SIX YEARS OR ONE YEAR? HOW ABOUT ALL OF THE ABOVE KAMLOOPS — Convicted killer Neil Snelson was arrested in 2009, sentenced yesterday to 11 years in prison and will likely be released around this time next year. Makes complete sense, right? A jury convicted him earlier this summer of the...

SNELSON TRIAL UPDATE: Kelowna killer sentenced; only 19 months left to serve

KAMLOOPS - It took two trials and nearly 22 years for the case and the jail doors to close on Jennifer Cusworth’s killer, but it will only be one year and seven months before his release. Neil George Snelson, 48, was sentenced to 11 years today, Sept. 16, in Kamloops Supreme Court. Since he was...

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...

Acquitted Kamloops RCMP officer still awaiting internal conduct hearing

KAMLOOPS - It’s been nearly one year since his trial and five years since the event which took him to trial, yet Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Rick Brown has yet to have a conduct hearing from his employer. Brown was acquitted on a breach of trust charge in October of last year. Despite his acquittal, he...

Vernon judge ruffles feathers by refusing to sentence alleged fraudster

"I CAN’T BE THROWING PEOPLE IN JAIL WHO SAY ‘I DIDN’T DO IT’" VERNON - A bit of courthouse drama unfolded at the Vernon Law Courts Monday when a judge refused to sentence an accused fraudster on charges she wouldn’t admit to committing. Desiree Dorothy Pelletier is charged with forgery, theft of $5,000 or under...

SNELSON TRIAL: Killer’s sentence depends on finding of sexual assault argument

KAMLOOPS —It’s been almost 22 years since the night Neil Snelson killed college student Jennifer Cusworth after a party in Kelowna in 1993 and now Cusworth's family has one week left to find out how long he'll spend in prison. The 19-year-old Cusworth was found dead in a ditch on Swamp Road in Kelowna in...

JAIL SEX TRIAL: Judge will decide if RCMP officer’s actions were criminal

KAMLOOPS – It is up to a Kamloops Supreme Court Justice to determine if a crime was committed in the early morning hours of August 18, 2010 now that submissions from both lawyers have concluded in the trial of an RCMP watch commander. Kenneth Peter Rick Brown was charged with breach of trust after he,...