Melfort trial set for accused toddler-murderer

EDITOR’S NOTE: This trial has been stayed, as of July, 2015

A four-week trial by judge and jury is set for a man accused of fatally injuring a three-year-old boy in a hamlet near Nipawin.  

Late in 2013, Shane Paschke was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Roudy Bourque, who died in December of 2012.  Bourque was the son of the woman Paschke was living with at the time.

The trial will delve into the tragic details of the toddler’s death.

Previous reports from the RCMP stated Bourque was taken to Nipawin from the hamlet of Garrick after police were called about a child in medical distress, but couldn’t be airlifted to Saskatoon because of freezing rain that night.

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Bourque died in Saskatoon hospital on Dec. 7, 2012.

Paschke’s defence, Mark Brayford, said the bulk of testimony will come from medical witnesses rather than eye witnesses, which is why the trial is set for such a long period. Those witnesses will largely be called by the Crown prosecutor.

They’ll be qualified as experts, and Brayford said testimony of that nature “is quite time consuming.”

An autopsy revealed Bourque died as a result of an injury caused by blunt-force trauma to the head.

Paschke was released on bail in December of 2013 with a number of conditions.

There were four pretrial dates set prior to the decision to head to trial in Melfort on Oct. 13.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk