Family of B.C. pastor killed in crash fighting for change after charge against accused dismissed
For six years, a Richmond family has been waiting for justice after a deadly crash that killed a popular pastor.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Dead woman's police statement not admissible in trial of alleged serial rapist
The evidence of a Calgary woman who told police she'd been kidnapped, drugged and sexually assaulted by an alleged serial rapist can not be considered at his trial because she died in tragic circumstances and can't be cross-examined. Richard Mantha is on trial, facing 20 charges related to allegations he sexually assaulted seven women, most of whom were vulnerable sex-trade workers at the time. One of those women, whom CBC News is calling LM in order to comply with a publication ban, died in a tragic accident in December. CBC News is not publishing details of her death because they would identify the woman, whose identity remains protected by a publication ban. On Friday, Justice Judith Shriar ruled the alleged victim's statement to police is not admissible because of concerns over its reliability. LM told police she'd spoken with other women on the street about the case. Because of her death, defence lawyer Justin Dean wouldn't get the chance to question her about the unsworn statement. Last month, prosecutor Dominique Mathurin played a video-taped statement LM gave to police, who were investigating Mantha at the time. In the video, LM told Staff Sgt. Shelby Stewart that, in April 2022, she was dumped on the side of the road after escaping an RV inside a quonset hut east of the city. 'The second girl' She was picked up by an RCMP officer who told LM that she was "the second girl that happened to" in the last week. The officer did not take the woman to a detachment for a statement. Instead, he dropped her off at a CTrain station in Calgary. About a year later, Mantha was being investigated by Calgary police and, in the course of that investigation, Stewart learned of LM's interaction with the RCMP. LM told Stewart that a man, whom the Crown alleges was Mantha, picked her up and offered her a ride to a CTrain station. It was raining and LM said yes. The man gave LM a Sprite, which she told police caused her to black out. LM fought off attacker LM told the officer that she woke up in an RV naked, except for her bra. She said she fought the man off and threatened to stab him. LM said she found her knife and demanded he drive her back to where he'd picked her up. As they left the RV, LM said she realized the vehicle was inside a quonset. Court has already heard evidence that Mantha was living in an RV inside a quonset on a property east of the city near Langdon. Once on the road, LM said the man shoved her out of the truck and left her on the side of the road. When asked to point out the location of the quonset on a map, LM identified Mantha's rental property as the place she'd been taken. The case is back for trial continuation in July.
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Man mistakenly deported to El Salvador back in U.S. to face criminal charges
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation to El Salvador became a political flashpoint in the Trump administration's stepped-up immigration enforcement, is being returned to the United States to face criminal charges related to what the U.S. says was a massive human smuggling operation that brought immigrants into the country illegally. Photo credit: Abrego Garcia Family
National Post
5 hours ago
- National Post
Man who killed four members of Ontario Muslim family appealing convictions: doc
A court document shows a man convicted of murdering four members of a Muslim family and seriously injuring another in what the judge deemed to be an act of terrorism is appealing his convictions on three grounds. Article content A lawyer representing Nathaniel Veltman filed a new notice of appeal in February, nearly a year after Veltman filed an initial inmate notice of appeal. Article content Article content The document says Veltman is challenging his convictions and seeking a new trial on grounds that the trial judge erred in admitting the 'ideological evidence,' and in admitting his statements to police, which it says were obtained in breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Article content Veltman was sentenced in February 2024 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after he was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck on June 6, 2021, while they were out for a walk in London, Ont. Article content Article content Forty-six-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal were killed in the attack. The couple's nine-year-old son was seriously hurt but survived. Article content Pomerance ruled the murders, committed by a self-described white nationalist, were an act of terrorism. The case was the first time Canada's terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial. Article content
