SATURDAY, APRIL 29,1995
CITY MAN GETS 17 YEARS
Judge ups
by MARYLIN STORIE Citizen Staff
ante on jail time
A Prince George man convicted of the second-degree murder of a teenager who was to testify against him at a break-and-enter trial was sentenced Friday to life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 17 years.
Bruce Edward Michell, 25, shook his head when asked if he wished to say anything before sentencing. He stared straight ahead at Mr. Justice Glen Parrett throughout much of the two-hour sentence hearing, showing no emotion upon hearing the sentence.
The mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life imprison-
ment with no eligibility for parole for a minimum of 10 years. Under special circumstances, a judge has the discretion to increase that minimum up to 25 years.
Crown counsel Al Bate said city youth David Gurney, 16, was murdered for “a penny-ante break and enter.”
Gurney, known by the nickname of “Red” because of his hair color, was discovered drowned in the Nechako River off the 2100 block of River Road on Sept. 23, 1991. Evidence showed that Gurney, after being severely beaten, likely died from being held under the water until he drowned or from Michell placing his foot on Gurney’s chest and holding
s t
him under the water until he died.
Bate asked for at least 15 years of ineligibility for parole. Some witnesses were threatened during the trial. On two occasions it was necessary to arrest witnesses who did not obey summons to attend court. Bate said the palpable fear in the court room during testimonies given by three female witnesses stemmed from: “a well-grounded knowledge that to give evidence out of the class and the place and the area from which the accused has come is terror.”
Bate praised the Crown witnesses, noting they had “tremendous courage in coming into this court room.” He exempted Malcolm Calder, 30, from that praise, noting that Calder, con-
victed of manslaughter in Gurney’s death and serving a five-year sentence, “is part of a jungle that has its own rules.”
Russell Auger of Prince George, also charged with Gurney’s second-degree murder, was judged unfit to stand trial after a hearing last March. He remains in custody.
Defence counsel Randy Walker said his client began drinking alcohol at nine years of age. He said Michell had been on the street since he was 16 years old and began selling soft drugs. “The code of the streets is you show no pain,” Walker said and called his client’s lack of response “stoic.” Justice Parrett, however, did not
buy Walker’s argument that Michell’s relative youth meant he should not receive a stiff sentence. He said Michell showed no remorse for his crime and the judge said he saw no mitigating circumstances.
“Michell is a man of the most dangerous kind — a man who is not constrained by the normal restraints of society. When he strikes a blow and kills a witness, he strikes a blow at this system and everything it stands for.
“I can’t think of a public interest more important than the protection of witnesses. Were it not for his relative youth and period in custody, I would have gone to 20 years.”
Five-year-old Kirsty Flick isn’t too young to marvel at the color and beauty of flowers. Highway provided an ideal escape for a young girl’s introduction to pansies.
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Art Knapp’s Plantland on the Hart
‘Lost generation’ exposed at trial
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PRINCE GEORGE
Citizen
Serving the Central Interior since 1916
by Citizen staff
The untimely death of a city teenager provoked a B.C. Supreme Court judge to comment on the problem of youth violence.
Mr. Justice Glen Parrett spoke aside from a sentence hearing held Friday for Bruce Michell, 25, convicted of David Gurney’s second-degree murder this week.
Defence lawyer Randy Walker had earlier referred to his client as “one of the lost souls of the community.”
“I wish to comment on that phrase,” Parrett said. “Canada is a country at this time whose public, I think, is deeply troubled by the issues of violence in this society.
“They are also, in my respectful view, a public who is singularly ill-informed about some of the things going on in society.”
Parrett noted that the media have limited means to inform the public, but he added that the public has a right to know.
“I do know one thing,” the judge said. “Before any solution can or will be found, the
CNC
I
by KEN BERNSOHN Citizen Staff
The most important thing at the College of New Caledonia board meeting Friday wasn’t discussed during the public session of the board.
Negotiations between the faculty and administration have broken off, for good. This means issues left unresolved after a 23-day strike by the faculty at the College of New Caledonia will be decided by
labor dispute to arbitration
Brian Foley and Stephen Renfrit of the Labor Relations Board.
“After three days (of talks) the parties concluded there wasn’t progress being made so they would refer it to Foley and Renfrit,” CNC president Terry Weninger said when asked about the talks after the college board meeting Friday.
“The same three issues are still outstanding: wages, benefits, and contracting out,” he
added.
George Davison, president of the Faculty Association had a different view of the negotiations during the past week.
“It wasted a lot of time. There wasn’t much incentive for them to negotiate, so they didn’t.”
On March 9, during the strike, Foley, who heads the mediation branch of the Labor Relations Board, proposed the faculty return to teaching, fol-
lowed by a 30 day cooling-off period, then new negotiations. If the faculty and administration were unable to reach agreement, Foley and mediator Stephen Renfrit would issue binding arbitration.
Davison said Friday he expected Foley’s decision at the end of May or early June.
In other college news,, a proposal to increase tuition fees by 10 per cent sparked extended, lively debate.
Bursar Jim Blake told the board that even with the fee increase, CNC would have the fourth lowest fees of 25 colleges, institutes and universities which charge by the course.
Blake said despite the tuition increase, students will still pay just 9.82 per cent of total revenue.
New board member Carole Wellwood, a faculty member at CNC, didn’t buy Blake’s argu-
ment. She pointed out that Skills, Training and Labor Minister Dan Miller had sent the board a letter saying inflation is low and if tuition hikes exceeded inflation, bursaries should be available to help students afford courses.
After extended discussion, the board voted to delay a decision on fees until the May 26 meeting.
public must come to understand it. They will only know it when the public is fully informed...”
During Michell’s three-week trial, 34 witnesses, many of them 13 to 16 years old at the time of Gurney’s murder, testified.
“Many of them were living on the street,” Parrett said, “with no families, no means of support other than social assistance, moving from place to place, looking for somewhere to put their heads down for the night.
“Their activities, in my respectful view, reflect a cultural existence that is completely foreign to the rest of our country and our community. Until the public learns the full scope and depth of the problem, there is no hope of a solution.”
The trial afforded “a view onto a totally lost generation,” Parrett said. “And it is also a view into that group of people on which the public has been singularly uninformed
throughout the time this trial has gone on.”
INDEX
Ann Landers ... .....20
Bridge........ .....31
Business...... .. .22,23
City, B.C...... ......3
Comics ....... .....38
Coming events . ......9
Commentary ... ......5
Crossword..... .....31
Entertainment . . .37-39
Horoscope..... .....29
Lifestyles..... . .20-22
Marketplace ... . .28-36
Movies........ .....30
Sports........ ..13-16
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FITNESS
■ Professional body builder Laura Binetti eats up to seven meals a day in order to put on the weight and then sculpt it as she takes it off. The 30-year-old, who competes internationally, is among the five most muscular women in the world. Page 8
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RELIGION
■ Those who believe in miracles may want to visit an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe displayed at Sacred Heart Cathedral May 5 to 7. The photo depicts the Virgin Mary’s picture which is believed to have appeared on a tilma or apron of an Mexican Indian peasant more than 400 years ago. Page 10
■ Members of the Prince George Ministerial Association say they’ll
. f f
pray for requests of Mayor John Backhouse. Among other things, the mayor asked for prayers for social problems and wisdom and good judgment among today’s leaders. Page 10
RECREATION
■ Buying that first two-wheeler for your tyke is easy, but as children grow, so do their tastes and demands of bicycles, their main form of transportation. . Page 40
MONEY
■ Maybe times will improve in Canada with the death of the $2 bill. The deuce has had a bad reputation throughout history, having been associated with prostitution and a belief it’s unlucky. Because coins wear better
than paper, the change is expected to save millions. Page 18
CRIME
■ Some Americans paid big bucks for bogus British titles that would make them into lords and ladies, and give them royal privileges. It turned out there is no gilded carriages or palace functions. Two men have pleaded guilty to forgery. Page 17
LOCAL
■ A high-tech x-ray machine at the local hospital allows patients to have magnetic resonance images taken at home instead of travelling to Vancouver. The $2.6 million MRI is being shared by Prince George, Kelowna and Kamloops. Page 3
ENTERTAINMENT
■ Today’s movie-goers say they want escape, light laughs, romance and a few tears. Cornpope jpmances like While You Were Sleeping are winning out over steely love stories like Love and a .45. While one makes you warm and fuzzy, the other gives you warm and fuzzy body parts blown away by artillery. Page 38
■ The filming of movie Magic in the Water ran into a snag in Vancouver when actors on set had problems responding to a gigantic creature that took 15 men to control its facial parts. Director Rick Stevenson was at a loss until he found a way to turn it around. Page 37
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