Deadly 2016 shooting in West End a 'drug debt collection gone wrong,' Crown says
Bryce Hoye | CBC News | Posted: November 19, 2018 8:35 PM | Last Updated: November 20, 2018
Pierre Contois on trial for 2nd-degree murder in shooting death of George Prieston, 29
A trio of men behind the fatal 2016 shooting death of George Prieston plotted to distract dogs with meat while they stormed a West End home looking to "settle a score," a Crown lawyer says.
"His death was the violent byproduct of a drug debt collection gone wrong," Crown attorney Mike Desautels said Monday, the first day of the second-degree murder trial of Pierre Contois.
A sheriff escorted a shackled Contois into the Winnipeg courtroom where Court of Queen's Bench Justice Vic Toews is presiding over his trial.
Contois, Raymond Ducharme and Shawn Poitra were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the May 12, 2016, shooting death of Prieston at a home on Wellington Avenue.
Prieston died of gunshot wounds, as did a dog in the yard. Contois was initially charged with an animal cruelty offence, but the Crown later stayed that charge. Court heard the dog was injured when police arrived, and an officer shot it again to end its suffering.
Poitra and Ducharme pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March and were sentenced to 13 years each, Desautels told CBC News.
There was a cop standing over [a] dog shooting [it]. I was like, 'What the f--k happened.' - Witness
The first-degree murder charge was dropped to second-degree murder for Contois. He is also charged with conspiring to commit robbery with a weapon.
One of Prieston's loved ones let out a quiet sigh as Contois pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Desautels said in his opening statement that Ducharme and Poitra, then 25, hatched a plan to steal back a gold chain that had been stolen from Ducharme during a drug deal.
They enlisted help from Contois, then 21, who had an AK-47 style assault rifle, Desautels said.
They traced the suspected thieves to a home on Wellington, which they scouted out earlier on the day of the shooting, Desautels said.
They bought meat from a nearby store, which was caught on camera, said Desautels, to toss to a dog in the yard and keep it from getting in the way.
Rushed to hospital
Court heard they planned to work their way into the house and possibly hold someone hostage there until the chain was turned over. They didn't expect the tall, roughly 260-pound Prieston to be there and "put up a fight," Desautels said.
Contois fired more than one shot toward Prieston before taking off, the courtroom was told. Prieston, 29, was rushed to hospital with gunshot injuries but died.
Officers arrested Ducharme and Poitra about two days after the shooting; Contois wasn't apprehended until six months later.
During those months, Contois allegedly told three others about the shooting and that he had no choice, Desautels said. All three are expected to testify, and Toews granted a publication ban restricting the use of their names.
'Felt disrespected' after chain stolen
Witnesses in the neighbourhood of the shooting recorded video of a black car and its license plate outside the home that helped police make arrests. It led them to an apartment on Talbot Avenue.
Police recovered fingerprints from two vehicles, as well as evidence from the Talbot apartment.
That apartment is where Ducharme was beaten and robbed of his chain earlier the same day of the shooting, and surveillance footage of the fight was played in court.
One of the men involved in the robbery told court he was also a drug dealer and gang member, and he was with Prieston the day he was killed.
He is currently in custody but was brought in to testify. His identity is protected under a publication ban.
He said he was high when he went to the apartment with a female friend and a man to buy cocaine from a drug dealer he didn't know. When they got there, he said money changed hands but he was never given the cocaine. Then, he "felt disrespected" by something the dealer said and the group stole his chain during a fight, he said.
'Everything happened so fast'
He and Prieston then went to a home to drink and do drugs. While there, he received a call from a woman the pair knew, saying someone had thrown rocks through the Wellington Avenue window of her home.
The man said he and Prieston raced to the home in a cab, but he got dropped off a few blocks early to stash some crack cocaine he had just acquired.
As he neared the home on foot, the sight of three men outside sent him off running in the other direction. Then, he says he heard gunshots.
When he circled back minutes later, police were already on the scene.
"There was a cop standing over [a] dog shooting [it]," the man said. "I was like, 'What the f--k happened.' Everything happened so fast."
'Yelling and pointing at the house'
Officers testified that three rifle shell casings were found in the yard, and a bullet was pulled out of the wall near the front of the home. Large rocks and shards of glass were found inside near a side window that was smashed, court heard.
"There was numerous people outside, all yelling and pointing at the house," said Det.-Sgt. Rick Hordijk, who was among the first to arrive.
Now-retired Winnipeg police Const. David Mathews testified that a shell casing, blood-stained front step, chipped concrete, bits of hotdogs and a vomit pile on a patio stone appeared to be from when the dog was originally shot.
Hordijk said a woman inside was hysterical and asked police to help save Prieston, who was lying on his back in the foyer next to a non-lethal air-soft gun. The gun was moved into the living room when paramedics arrived.
2 gunshots
As the paramedics tended to Prieston, the sound of two gunshots rang out just outside, alarming the paramedics.
Another officer, Const. Erin Sesak, had shot the injured dog to end its suffering, Hordijk said.
"He's a dog lover and thought just for the sake of the dog he would, you know, put the dog down and put it out of its misery," said Hordijk.
"I said maybe next time voice that so we know it's coming."
Sesak, a seven-year member of the force, told Mitch Enright, one of Contois' defence lawyers, that he does not recall that conversation with Hordijk.
He said he noticed what looked like a trail of blood leading from the suspected vomit pile, hotdogs and blood-stained front steps and followed it to the side of the building where he found the injured dog.
His supervisor gave him the OK to do the "humane thing," Sesak said. He believed his supervisor then over the radio announced the imminent shooting to other police in the area, though he couldn't be sure.
A 40-calibre shell from the officer's gun was found outside near where the dog was killed, court heard.
Contois' trial is expected to last about two weeks.