By paNOW Staff

Vermette committed for trial

Jun 19, 2017 | 5:00 PM

The second man charged with murder in connection with the 2015 killing of Troy Napope is now committed for trial.

A preliminary hearing for 28-year-old accused killer Braidy Chase Vermette was scheduled to take place last week at Prince Albert Provincial Court, but Crown Prosecutor John Morrall told paNOW Vermette decided to go directly to a trial at the Court of Queen’s Bench.

Although the trial date has not yet been set, Morrall said the Crown is confident in the strength of their case against Vermette.

Napope was shot May 28, 2015 after a Prince Albert house party, but it was not until April of 2016 that his remains were found in a slough by the RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team. Vermette was charged with first-degree murder along with 30-year-old Skylar Patrick Bird, but the case was delayed substantially when Vermette orchestrated a dramatic escape from custody. Correctional officers escorting Vermette to hospital were doused with bear spray and threatened with a gun March 30, 2016. Vermette eluded a massive police manhunt for more than a week until he was recaptured in a fiery raid by Prince Albert RCMP, April 7.

Last month, almost exactly two years after the shooting, Bird pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. Morrall said the Crown was satisfied with Bird’s second-degree conviction because all the evidence pointed to Vermette as the driving force behind the murder. Bird is expected to give evidence as a Crown witness at Vermette’s trial, Morrall said.

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-EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been closed to commenting because the matter is still before the court.

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