WEDNESDAY
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June 6, 2012
A division of
Vol. 27 No. 44
COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Murder trial underway in Courtenay
CVAG BUZZING ING
Erin Haluschak Record Staff
Bees are the focus of the CV Art Gallery ■ 14
ALL DOWNHILL
It was wet and wild for the Mt. Washington DH 2012. A rainy Saturday added a new degree of difficulty to the already challenging hill, but a field of international longboarders didn’t let the wet stuff dampen their spirits, event spokesperson Erik Ware said. “There were a lot of crashes due to the wet but only a couple minor bumps and bruises,” Ware said.
... Complete story on ■ 17
In a packed courthouse Monday, the families of James Denton and his accused listened carefully to three witnesses during the first day of trial stemming from Denton’s death last year. As Crown prosecutor Gordon Baines noted in his opening statement, Denton, 19, was stabbed twice last July — once in the left armpit and once in the left lower back — near the entrance to G.P. Vanier Secondary School following the conclusion of a day-long music festival at the nearby Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds. Baines added Denton collapsed almost immediately and was unresponsive. He later died of the two stab wounds at St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Comox. The 16-year-old suspect accused of his death — who cannot be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act — has been charged with second-degree murder, although Crown indicated in the past he will seek an adult sentence against the suspect if convicted. The suspect, dressed in a white dress shirt and black pants, walked in shackles to the prisoner’s dock, and avoided eye contact with the gallery as he sat to the right of his lawyer, Victoria-based Michael Mulligan. He remained silent throughout the afternoon, but quietly responded “not guilty” when Supreme Court Justice R.B.T. Goepel asked for his plea. Baines said he will present 23 witnesses in total — four police
FAMILY AND FRIENDS of James Denton were at the courthouse in Courtenay on Monday for the start of a trial for a 16-year-old accused of killing Denton. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK officers and 19 civilian witnesses — during the judge-only trial, which is scheduled to last until June 22. Outside the courthouse, sheriffs presided over the large crowd of friends and family of both the Denton family and that of the accused.
“(I want to) make this guy pay — the harshest penalties available by law as an adult,” said James’ father, Dave Denton, who was surrounded by supporters wearing Justice for James T-shirts. “You want to be a big man? Pay for your crime like a big man,” he
noted, and added he is grateful for the support. “What would we be if we were standing here by ourselves? There’s power in numbers. If I was standing here by myself, I’d probably just dig a hole and climb in.” photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com
■ Weather
2
Quick response saved theatre from catastrophe
■ Lottery
6
Erin Haluschak
■ Ferry Schedule
6
FINDER
■ Editorial
40
■ Opinion
41
■ Arts
14
■ Sports
17
■ Classified
31
Record Staff
Quick thinking by a passerby, combined with the close proximity of the fire department and a scheduled meeting with its members, proved to be the right combination of factors in minimizing damage to the Ilo Ilo Theatre in Cumberland Monday night. Around 7:30 p.m., a person
walking in the back alley behind the historic building spotted a fire and called 9-1-1, said Cumberland Fire Chief Mike Williamson. “Behind the siding and the wall, (the fire) burnt about 25 feet up the roof. Fast notification, along with a meeting in the firehall which is right next door, and we had a 45-second response time, and there was no problem putting it out,” he explained.
The theatre is undergoing renovations, and Williamson said given a few more minutes, the building may have suffered significant damage. “It’s a really wide open place and there’s no drywall protection or anything like that. If we didn’t get it quick, it could have been a real disaster in there. “I don’t know if it was someone playing a prank or some-
one playing with matches, but it could have been a real serious fire in another 15 minutes; we would have had our hands full,” he added. Williamson confirmed there was no structural damage to the building, and Tim Patterson, project manager for the renovations, said he is grateful the fire was
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