THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 VOL. 74, NO. 12
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Pathologist testifies as McDonell trial resumes MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca
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The victim of an alleged punch to the face at a house party in Fort St. John nearly two years ago died of a blunt force head injury, a forensic pathologist testified in court this week. Cody McDonell stands accused of manslaughter in the death of Travis Waite in May 2015, and has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The two men were at a barbecue at a home on 115 Avenue May 18, 2015, when an altercation is alleged to have turned violent. McDonell allegedly punched Waite during the altercation outside the home, with Waite sustaining serious head injuries
after falling to the ground. He had to be airlifted to hospital in Vancouver, and died in a coma on May 30. Forensic pathologist Matthew Orde told the court on Monday that Waite had suffered two injuries to the head, including a fractured skull along with bleeding and bruising of his brain as a result of an impact to the back of his head. Waite also had a missing tooth and a broken nasal bone in his face. “The most significant injury contributing to death seems to be the blow to the back of the head,� said Orde, who performed an autopsy on Waite. While neurosurgeons worked to relieve the pressure and swelling of Waite’s brain, his condition did not improve, Orde said.
The injury proved fatal from the moment he sustained it, Orde conceded during questioning. “I don’t know whether any more could have been done to save his life, and from the careful review of medical records, it seems that the doctors went to strenuous lengths to try and save this individual’s life,� he said. Court also heard Monday from Waite’s cousin, Gordon Leer, who owned the home where the events took place and where McDonell lived at the time. Leer testified a group of friends began their afternoon hanging out and drinking by the Beatton River before moving back to his place for a barbecue. Leer testified he heard a loud bang at the front door some
hours later after McDonell had gone to lock the door after an agitated Waite was told to leave the gathering and home. Leer testified McDonell called him for help, and he saw Waite lying unconscious, snoring and bleeding from his ears and nose, at the bottom of his front landing. The two men carried Waite back inside the house and laid him on a couch, while emergency help was called, he testified. Leer said he helped paramedics load his cousin into the ambulance. “At that point, we thought he’d be OK,� Leer said. The trial continued Tuesday with voir dire evidence from RCMP, and other witnesses, and was set to conclude Wednesday.
Montney mainline ready to build: TransCanada The North Montney Mainline is ready to build, with or without liquefied natural gas, TransCanada signalled to the National Energy Board this week. The company has filed for a variance with the NEB on the project, which would add new pipeline links to bring new gas supplies into TransCanada’s existing NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) mainline. TransCanada had already received NEB approval to build the North Montney
Mainline, at a cost of $1.7 billion, but that approval was contingent on the Petronas Pacific NorthWest LNG project getting a final investment decision, not expected until later this year. But TransCanada now wants to proceed with building out a slightly scaled back system, at a cost of $1.4 billion, regardless of whether the Pacific NorthWest gets the go ahead. It does not include the roughly 100 kilometres of pipeline that would be required, if the LNG project goes ahead.
Eleven gas producers have signed 20-year commitments to ship up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day on the Nova Gas pipeline system, which gives those producers a variety of options for delivering gas throughout Canada and the U.S. “The new commercial arrangements demonstrate a current and long-term market demand for North Montney gas supply in advance of, and independent of, the PNW LNG final investment decision,� said TransCanada
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communications manager Shawn Howard. Black Swan Energy has confirmed it will be one of the shippers on the new pipeline. TransCanada plans to start construction in 2018, subject to regulatory approvals. It will feed into the NGTL system, which will provide producers various options including deliveries to the oilsands, local distributors, Eastern Canada, the U.S. Midwest or to California/Pacific Northwest. MAINLINE on A11
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