Up front: Swimmer conquers Cowichan Lake for MS On track: Young track star smashes 27-year-old B.C. record
Your news leader since 1905
page A3 page A19
For all the news of the Cowichan region as it happens, plus stories from around British Columbia, go to our website www.cowichannewsleader.com
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Crown will seek full 25 years for Jones/Stone killer Elliott pleads guilty: to Duncan’s most notorious crime in the past decade
Pompeo sentence moved and postponed
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
Peter W. Rusland
S
News Leader Pictorial
C
rown will seeking a maximum sentence in the murders of Tyeshia Jones and Karrie Ann Stone after the court finally heard details of the high-profile 2010 and 2011 killings of the Duncan women. William Gordon Robert Elliott pleaded guilty Friday to the second-degree murders of Stone and Jones and will appear in Duncan court, between Dec. 16 and 20, for official sentencing, Crown counsel Neil MacKenzie said. That’s when Judge Keith Bracken is expected to rule on Elliott’s parole-eligibility date of anywhere between 10 and 25 years. ‘”Elliott will get an automatic life sentence, but the court will determine how long he’ll serve before being eligible for parole,” MacKenzie told the News Leader Pictorial. Elliott remains in cusKarrie Ann Stone: tody until his Dec. 16 appearance. killed in July 2010 “When sentenced on a murder charge, parole eligibility commences from when he went into custody,” MacKenzie explained. Bracken has also ordered a pre-sentencing psychiatric report for the married father and Duncan resident, who was initially charged with first-degree murder. Crown agreed to accept the second-degree charges, noted MacKenzie. Elliott was 24 when arrested on April 20, 2012. Stone was 42, fighting adTyeshia Jones: killed diction problems, and living at in January 2011 Duncan’s Super 8 Motel when she went missing on July 7, 2010. Her burnt remains were found in a wooded area of Glenora on July 12, 2010. Jones was 18 when she went missing on Jan. 22, 2011. Her naked, unburned body was recovered from a wooded area off Duncan’s Indian Road on Jan. 28, 2011. Stone’s mother, Bev Stone, and Jones’ mom, Mary Jim heard the grim details in Friday’s jammed court. more on A4
Check Out Duncan’s Finest Used Cars & Trucks Today!
Andrew Leong
David Pompeo approaches the Duncan courthouse Tuesday morning, where his expected sentencing did not occur as planned.
entencing of a local Mountie convicted of shooting an unarmed Chemainus man in 2009 has been moved out of Cowichan and set back another month. Const. David Pompeo, of North Cowichan/Duncan’s RCMP detachment, is next to appear Aug. 26 and 27 in Colwood provincial court, where he’ll face punishment for aggravated assault for shooting Bill Gillespie in September 2009 on a driveway near Chemainus. The move to Colwood is due to scheduling. The adjournment itself is because Tuesday morning the lawyers had not yet provided the judge with all the information he was looking for. An exasperated Judge Josiah Wood allowed an oral adjournment application from Crown, and Pompeo’s lawyer Ravi Hira. “I wanted to hear your arguments,” Wood told Hira. Instead, the judge received documents about constitutional matters that had been expected July 8. Raji Mangat, a B.C. Civil Liberties’ lawyer, said she is very curious about what’s in those documents, adding Wood could have denied the adjournment and proceeded with the scheduled sentencing. Crown counsel Neil MacKenzie noted there’s no specific time limit for sentencing Pompeo, explaining there had been private talks about the case between Crown and the cop’s defense counsel. more on A4
Demo Blow Out! 2012 Honda Civic Coupe EX-L-Navi Stock number: 32-208
$23,385
DL#5963
2013 Honda CRV Touring AWD
Stock number: 33-033
2013 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6 with Navi
$42,895
$34,585
Stock number: 33-117
$32,355
6466 Bell McKinnon Road, Duncan
2013 Honda Odyssey Touring
250-748-5814
Stock number: 33-050
www.discoveryhonda.com