FRIDAY
APRIL 3, 2015
TRI-CITIES
We’re launching an expanded Thursday edition, and a new magazine that’s All About Pets
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thenownews.com
THE NOW
A NEW ERA FOR US
AVENUES OF CHANGE
United Way creates program aimed at helping Tri-Cities kids
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Serving COQUITLAM, PORT COQUITLAM, PORT MOODY, ANMORE and BELCARRA since 1984
Wanted man has crime ties to Tri-Cities Jeremy DEUTSCH
jdeutsch@thenownews.com A convicted murderer with ties to the Tri-Cities has escaped a federal prison in Mission. On Wednesday, RCMP alerted the public that federal inmate Shawn William Merrick, 43, was not accounted for at Mission Institution. He was reported missing a day earlier by the prison, on March 31. Merrick was serving a sentence for second-degree murder and has a criminal record which includes convictions for robbery and drug offences. Convicted murderer In 2009, Merrick, who is Shawn William Merrick from Surrey, pleaded guilty has escaped from Mission to second-degree murder Institution. in the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old woman in Coquitlam in 2006. The body of Shelly Lynn Devoe was found shortly after Sept. 21, 2006 by a person out for a morning walk in the 500 block of Harper Road. A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Merrick. He is described as Caucasian, with a fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, a burn scar on his right forearm and a twoinch scar on his neck. He also has several tattoos, including one of skulls on his upper left arm, a heart with the name “Jade” on his upper right back, a dragon on his right upper arm and a skull on his left chest. Anyone who spots Merrick is asked to call 911 immediately, while anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact Mission RCMP at 604-826-7161. According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court at the time of his murder sentence, the killing happened when Merrick became upset after $800 in cash and a quantity of CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
LISA KING/NOW
Dan Helmer, co-founder of Moody Ales, is heading up tonight’s Tri-Cities Cask Festival, which runs from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the RockyPoint Taphouse, and features offerings from 14 craft breweries, including Yellow Dog Brewing.
Old school brewing NEW FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS MICROBREWS SERVED IN CASKS
John KURUCZ
marries old-world brewing techniques with the microbrew craze that’s swept across the taste buds of suds lovers in recent years. Helmer said the tradition of serving beer in casks, which are similar to a wooden barrel, began to die out in the 19th century, though the renaissance
jkurucz@thenownews.com Dan Helmer is offering the best of both beer worlds. A co-founder of Moody Ales, Helmer is heading up this Friday’s inaugural Tri-Cities Cask Festival, an event that
of that practice is very much in the here and now. That re-emergence just so happens to coincide with the proliferation of craft breweries, and those beers account for roughly 20 per cent of all beer sold in B.C. annually. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
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