CBC is reporting that "Crown co-prosecutor Bill Jennings wrapped up his closing remarks Tuesday afternoon in the trial for three men accused in the shooting death and dismemberment of Reno Lee by arguing that the jury should find all three guilty of first-degree murder. Bronson Gordon, Daniel Theodore and Andrew Bellegarde have pleaded not guilty to murdering Lee and committing an indignity to a body. Police believe Reno Lee was killed on April 16, 2015, although they didn't find his remains in a shallow grave on Star Blanket First Nation until later that month. "
CBC is reporting that Reno Lee was murdered for a drug debt. Just like Bob Roth in Alberta. Chad Gordon of Regina was arrested in Edmonton. The Edmonton HAs are dirty as f*ck.
Update: Daniel Theodore is appealing his sentencing, I believe he has a chance at winning a lesser sentence for he did not actually do the killing. Undoubtedly involved Daniel was not the trigger-man and not the conspire; Daniel was the cleaner. I have not researched it although I have been told that 'clean-up' of this sort is a 5 year or so sentence and with the kidnapping added if he partook would only find him 15 to 20 with parole option. I think that if Daniel was trialed by himself and not in the shadows of Andrew and Bronson he would have had a lesser sentence. Also, the jury came to the conclusion that they could not define each parties role definitely but did conclude the fact Daniel was not the shooter, Andrew was the trigger-man with the connivance of Bronson. However, I believe that if Bronson did not take the stand trying to downplay his role that if all 3 men stayed quiet in the trial it would have gone easier for them. By Bronson it was implied that the leadership role was Daniel the skilled calculated killer, this was a lie and only added to the manipulation theory the crown prosecutor was already trying to establish. I am glad that the roles were seen as much as they were in conclusion. It was a grizzly act what was done to Reno and the thoughts that must plague these 3 men in the quiet of the night while laying in their cold dark cells must be unimaginable hell-raising. It does boil down to who did what and each should be sentenced accordingly not as a whole as it was done. We must remember that judgment is easy when your not the one in the box, the cuffs, the accused. If it was your self in this situation you would want a fair trial and sentenced to only what you are guilty of.
ReplyDeleteBronson Gordon appealing murder conviction in Reno Lee killing
ReplyDeleteBronson Gordon, one of three men found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 death of Reno Lee, is appealing his conviction.
Heather Polischuk, Regina Leader-PostHEATHER POLISCHUK, REGINA LEADER-POST
More from Heather Polischuk, Regina Leader-Post
Published on: March 14, 2018 | Last Updated: March 14, 2018 4:10 PM CST
All three men found guilty in Reno Lee’s 2015 shooting death have now filed notices of appeal.
Within days of a jury’s March 2 verdict finding Andrew Bellegarde, 24, Bronson Gordon, 33, and Daniel Theodore, 34, guilty of first-degree murder, both Bellegarde and Theodore filed appeals. Only Gordon was found not guilty of offering an indignity to human remains in relation to the dismemberment of Lee’s body.
All three received the mandatory punishment: life in prison with no parole eligibility for at least 25 years.
This week, Gordon — through lawyer Marianna Jasper — filed his notice of appeal with the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, asking the province’s top court to overturn his conviction. If the court orders a new trial, Gordon — like Bellegarde and Theodore — wants it before a judge and jury.
During a gruelling seven-week trial, the jury heard from witnesses who said Lee was initially confined at Gordon’s Angus Street apartment on April 16, 2015, before being taken to the basement of a house on Garnet Street where he was bound and gagged. Sometime during the night, he was shot twice in the head and his body decapitated and dismembered.
His remains were found later that month in a shallow grave on the Star Blanket First Nation.
Neither Bellegarde nor Theodore took the stand at trial, but Gordon testified in his own defence, claiming he knew nothing about any plot to kill Lee.
But the Crown successfully argued that evidence showed all three men were involved in planning the murder or — in Bellegarde and Theodore’s cases — actively participated in Lee’s killing in the course of his unlawful confinement.
Bellegarde and Theodore each filed short handwritten notices of appeal on their own behalf.
Gordon’s notice of appeal dwarfed those of the other two men, containing numerous grounds and reasons for appeal, alleging the judge made a variety of errors in her lengthy charge to the jury and claiming the verdict was unreasonable.
Jasper — who is only representing Gordon at this stage for the purposes of filing of the appeal — pointed to the length of the charge (approximately 300 pages), claiming it was “unduly long” and was “slanted towards the Crown’s case.” She added the charge, in Gordon’s view, omitted references he believed were important to his case, such as allegations of police coaching of witnesses during interviews.
Gordon also intends to argue the jury wasn’t provided with directions regarding the inadmissibility of certain pieces of evidence that dealt with allegations Gordon was in a position to give directions to the others involved.
Jasper also wrote Dawson erred “when she failed to provide a functionally adequate and balanced jury charge.” She wrote the judge was wrong to provide “a minute recitation of the evidence relied upon by the Crown whilst failing to relate key evidence to the defence theory.”
Jasper claimed the error led to the jury being “implicitly invited … to disregard defence counsel’s submissions.”
Gordon intends to argue as well that the jury could not have reasonably found him guilty of first-degree murder while simultaneously finding a reasonable doubt about his participation in the dismemberment.