Deadly 2016 shooting in West End a 'drug debt collection gone wrong,' Crown says

A trio of men behind the fatal 2016 shooting death of George Prieston plotted todistractdogs 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 copstanding over [a]dog shooting [it]. I was like, 'What thef--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.

Desautelssaid in his opening statement thatDucharme and Poitra, then 25, hatched a plan to steal back a gold chain thathad been stolen from Ducharmeduring 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, saidDesautels, 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 holdsomeone 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 arrestedDucharmeandPoitraabout two days after the shooting;Contoiswasn't apprehended until six months later.

During those months,Contoisallegedly told three others about the shooting and that he had no choice, Desautels said. All three are expected to testify, andToewsgranted 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 plateoutside the home that helped police make arrests. It ledthem to an apartment on Talbot Avenue.

Police recovered fingerprints from two vehicles, as well as evidence from the Talbot apartment.

That apartment is whereDucharmewas 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 adrug dealer and gang member, and he was withPriestonthe day he was killed.

He is currently in custody but was brought in totestify. His identity is protected under a publication ban.

He said he was high when hewent 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 saidand the group stole his chain during a fight, he said.

'Everything happened so fast'

He and Prieston then wentto 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 andPriestonraced 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 onfoot, the sight of threemen 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 copstanding over [a]dog shooting [it]," the man said."I was like, 'What thef--k happened.' Everything happened so fast."

'Yelling and pointing at the house'

Officers testifiedthat 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," saidDet.-Sgt. RickHordijk, who was among the first to arrive.

Now-retired Winnipeg police Const. DavidMathewstestified thata 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 MitchEnright, one ofContois' 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 tothe 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.