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OCTOBER 24, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 85
WEDNESDAY
GUILTY PLEA
Kristopher Teichrieb gets seven years for beating Jessie Simpson in June 2016, leaving the then-teen in a coma TIM PETRUK STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
Kristopher Teichrieb enters the Kamloops Law Courts on Tuesday. TIM PETRUK/KTW
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A Kamloops man who threatened “vigilante” action when talking to police days before using a metal baseball bat to beat a teen into a coma has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Kristopher Teichrieb, 41, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to aggravated assault in connection to a beating he levelled against then-18-year-old Jessie Simpson on June 19, 2016. Teichrieb’s attempted murder trial was scheduled to begin on Monday before he accepted a plea deal from prosecutors. Sitting in the prisoners’ box with his head down, Teichrieb and about 30 other people in the courtroom listened as Crown prosecutor Wendy Stephen read out an agreed statement of facts, including Teichrieb’s actions in the months leading to the attack.
Jessie Simpson in his 2016 South Kamloops secondary graduation photo.
The agreed statement of facts begins with brief physical descriptors of the two men involved: Simpson, a 5-foot5, 18-year-old weighing 135 pounds and Teichrieb, then 39, standing six feet tall and weighing 220 pounds. In 2016, court heard, Teichrieb had a series of esca-
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lating interactions with police based on his belief his neighbourhood, the area around Holt Street and Clifford Avenue near McArthur Island, was under siege by violent thieves. “Mr. Teichrieb perceived there was escalating property crime and violence in the months leading up to the offence,” the document states, outlining a number of incidents involving Teichrieb calling 911 to report suspicious activity, beginning in February 2016. The next month, he called again, this time to report a loud party. “We’re getting a bit fed up out here,” he told the 911 operator. On May 27, 2016, Teichrieb called 911 again and said he caught a thief breaking into a van near his home, noting he “gave him a couple of smacks and then he ran,” court heard.
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