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Ashcroft murder trial to resume this spring after lengthy delay

KAMLOOPS - A man accused of murdering his uncle will return to court this spring for his trial to continue after it was adjourned indefinitely last summer. Shane Takeshi Gyoba is charged with second degree murder after his uncle Ed Gyoba died from blunt force trauma in the backyard of the home they shared in...

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...

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...

GORDON TRIAL: Police charged accused with causing death before woman died

KAMLOOPS - After a police officer told a man he was being charged with criminal negligence causing death on April 25, 2013, he was confused and said he had no idea whose death he caused — at the time no one had died at all. The charges changed for David Peter Gordon, born 1980, who...

TAYLOR TRIAL UPDATE: Guilty of murdering pregnant 16-year-old girlfriend

KAMLOOPS — It took a jury mere hours to decide Damien Taylor was guilty of murdering his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend CJ Fowler. After hearing evidence each day for the last two weeks, the 11-person jury in Kamloops Supreme Court was sequestered around 11 a.m. today, Oct. 14 and delivered its verdict before 5 p.m. today....

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...

Decision on Kelowna Mountie accused of assault expected in September

LANGUAGE ADVISORY KELOWNA – The judge in the trial of a Kelowna RCMP constable accused of assaulting an elderly bar patron will have to decide if the officer believed John McCormick was obstructing justice when he refused to leave Rose’s pub in downtown Kelowna last summer. Judge Gregory Koturbash heard final submissions in Kelowna Provincial...

Former Kamloops city councillor fined for taking advantage of society funds

KAMLOOPS — A former city councillor and director of the Kamloops Heritage Railway Society who shifted $100,000 of organization money into his account and back twice will face a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to two counts under the province’s Society Act. Joe Leong, 65, was originally charged with two counts of fraud, two counts...

SNELSON TRIAL: Lawyers present final arguments in manslaughter trial

KAMLOOPS - Motive, opportunity and his own lies all point to Neil George Snelson as the person who strangled and beat 19-year-old Jennifer Cusworth to death over 20 years ago in Kelowna, court heard from the Crown during final arguments today, June 15. Cusworth, an Okanagan Community College student was found in a ditch on...

SNELSON TRIAL UPDATE: Friends recall last moments with Jennifer Cusworth

KAMLOOPS - The last time Jennifer Cusworth’s friends saw her alive at a house party, they planned to get her home safely after drinking into the early morning hours of October 16, 1993. For Pam Coulombe and Faith Klinksiek their plan didn’t work out; the 19-year-old disappeared from the party. A jury heard Coulombe and...

‘He’s grabbing onto my gun,’ says cop charged with assault

LANGUAGE ADVISORY KELOWNA – An RCMP officer accused of assault says the elderly bar patron he took to the ground, punched three times and arrested last year was going for his gun. “I (felt) a very distinct feeling on my right hip,” the accused, Const. Grant Jacobson, 32, said in court today, May 26. “In...

WASELENKOFF TRIAL: Retired teacher not guilty of possessing child porn

KAMLOOPS -  While a Kamloops Supreme Court Justice acknowledged the testimony of a retired teacher was "carefully woven" in his trial for possession of child pornography, he delivered an acquittal today, May 14.  Jerry Waselenkoff was charged with one count of possessing child porn after a downstairs neighbour, Frans Van Der Woning, located four cases...

Former Vernon Mountie to stand trial this summer on child porn charges

VERNON - A former Vernon mountie charged with possession of child pornography will stand trial this summer. Ryan Hampton, 37, was scheduled to start his trial Mar. 2 in Vernon Supreme Court but his case has now been put over until July. It has also been moved to the Kelowna courthouse. Hampton, a former police...

Witness to deadly B.C. boat crash recalls tears from man on trial

KAMLOOPS - A man whose speedboat crashed on a B.C. lake cradled the head of a dying houseboat operator and cried as he waited for help to arrive, a witness has testified. Lubomir Vitanov, who was a passenger on the houseboat on July 3, 2010, said he saw Leon Reinbrecht holding the victim's head after...

‘One can hardly imagine a more horrific assault’ than Bobbitt’s: Crown

KELOWNA – Reckless, self-serving, grandiose, entitled, antisocial, narcissistic, lacking in empathy, sexually sadistic, psychopathic and violent. Those are some of the words the Crown used to describe David Wesley Bobbitt in a hearing to determine if he deserves dangerous offender status. Bobbitt, 39, has already pleaded guilty to seven charges, but before Justice Peter Rogers...

Bobbitt sentencing reconvenes in Kelowna

KELOWNA – An ex-girlfriend who says she too was sexually abused by David Wesley Bobbitt is not credible, according to defence lawyer James Pennington. On Wednesday morning Bobbitt’s sentencing reconvened in Kelowna Supreme Court after a seven month break. Since starting June 23, the focus has been to determine if Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to...

Lumby man will stand trial for school teacher’s murder

VERNON - A Lumby man accused of murdering his girlfriend, a local school teacher, will stand trial in Supreme Court. Following a preliminary inquiry at the Vernon Courthouse last week, the judge ruled there is enough evidence to order Howard Everett Krewson, 55, to stand trial. Krewson is accused of killing Vernon school teacher Linda...