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Accused murder begins trial

Shane Richard faces second-degree murder charge in 2007 incident in Whistler Village

Shane Richard, the man accused in the fatal shooting of Michael Boutros in Whistler Village in the early hours of March 10, 2007, began a jury trial in Vancouver this week on the charge of second-degree murder.

In the opening summation on Monday, Crown counsel Phillip Sebellin told a B.C. Supreme Court jury that an altercation broke out between two groups in the village as the nightclubs closed, and that Richard told Boutros to drop a piece of glass and “fight like a man” before pulling a gun from his waistband and shooting the 26-year-old Coquitlam man. According to the court report in The Province , Sebellin said a witness will testify the men were about two metres apart when Richard pulled the trigger.

The incident was witnessed by an RCMP dog team unit, who released their dog to subdue Richard, who was attempting to flee the scene. Richard was 27 at the time.

The shooting was Whistler’s first murder in years.

The charge of second-degree murder means that it was not planned, contracted, or otherwise meets any of the conditions of first-degree murder in Canada. The maximum penalty is mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole from 10 to 25 years, as determined by the judge at sentencing.

Fifteen days have been booked for the trial, which is expected to wrap up Jan. 30.