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NRI
collapses in B.C. Supreme Court after hearing guilty verdict
for murder of a student
Vancouver, BC, Jan 11, 2009
Ashok Sharma
NRI Randeep, Ricky Sihota, was charged with second-degree
murder, attempted robbery and break-and-enter in the February 2004
slaying of former University of Victoria student Terry McLean, 21.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice MARY HUMPHRIES declared him guilty of
second-degree murder and Ricky Sihota, fell to the floor upon hearing
the verdict. The judge found that:
- I’ve found Mr. Sihota guilty on all three charges, just
before beginning to read her judgment.
- There was reason to be cautious about the evidence of most of
the witnesses but found in consideration of all of the evidence
that there were two assailants: Sihota and Biros.
- Two weapons were used during the fatal beating and that another
man, Christopher Biros, who testified as a Crown witness against
Sihota, took part in the beating on Feb. 1, 2004 in an Oak Bay
home McLean shared with four other young adults.
- McLean was beaten to death with a baseball bat and another unknown
weapon.
- Sihota, Biros and another man, Aaron Sproule, went to the home
expecting to find a stash of drug cash _ up to $500,000, they
believed. They ransacked the house but found nothing. The trio
of accomplices were all in their 20s.
Oak Bay police chief Ron Gaudet told the MEDIA:
- It was an extremely complex investigation that went from a who-done-it
to a solid suspect
- The department is extremely happy with the outcome. We've been
working on this for a long time
Prosecutor Dennis Murray told the judge:
- Sihota was the mastermind behind a plan to do a so-called drug
rip at McLean’s home.
- The Crown will be seeking more than the 10-year minimum before
Sihota is eligible for parole. A sentencing date will be set next
Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m.
- Second-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in
prison without parole for at least 10 years.
Two men, William Aaron Sproule and Chris Biros were previously
charged in connection with the crime.
Biros:
- Earlier pleaded guilty to break-and-enter and attempted robbery
and was sentenced to four years in jail.
- He cut a deal with the Crown to have a manslaughter charge dropped
in exchange for testifying at Sihota's trial.
- testified that Sihota, one of two men who accompanied him on
the attempted robbery, used a baseball bat to beat to death McLean,
21, a small-time cocaine dealer.
NRI
accused of using a baseball bat to beat to death a small-time cocaine
dealer during a "drug rip"
Vancouver, BC, November 26, 2008
Ashok Sharma
Prosecutor Dennis Murray told B.C. Supreme Court Justice
Mary Humphries:
-
Randeep Ricky Sihota was planning a robbery and targeted Terry
Grant McLean.
-
Sihota and two accomplices, Christopher Biros and William Aaron
Sproule, met two other men in a parking lot at Camosun College
and discovered the address of McLean, 21, a former University
of Victoria student
-
The three men then broke into McLean's rented home on Humber
Road in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 2004, after spotting
McLean asleep on a couch in the living room.
As of confession:
- Biros later made to undercover police
- Biros and Sproule were at first reluctant to enter the home
and were concerned because Sihota was wielding a baseball bat.
Sihota assured them that violence would not be used and he agreed
to leave behind duct tape he'd brought to the home.
- Biros and Sproule ransacked the house in search of money and
drugs while Sihota remained with McLean.
- Biros and Sproule at some point heard a commotion
- Biros speaks of the sound of someone shouting out, 'Ow, ouch.'
- Biros and Sproule fled the house and saw Sihota in the living
room. Sihota later joined them in their vehicle and commented,
"I beat the [expletive] out of him."
McLean had been struck 40 times, including many blows
to the head as well as blows to the hands, arms, feet and knees.
A broken baseball bat was found nearby.
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