THURSDAY
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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK
Thursday, November 14, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 91 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
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LEFT TO RIGHT: One-year-old Nora Klassen flashes a smile while father Kevin sings and dances during the Wednesday, Nov. 13, Tiny Tunes program at the downtown library. Kevin and Nora join Meighan McKinley and daughter Sage in song during the program for parents and kids to five years of age, while Melissa Kerek and daughters Katy and Maria also have fun. The popular musical program runs year-round on Mondays and also has an eight-week Wednesday program from 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Dave Eagles photos/KTW
Murder victim linked to notorious gangster By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
One of the victims of a 2009 double-murder had ties to a notorious Kamloops gangster, a jury has heard. Roy Fraser is standing trial in B.C. Supreme Court on one count each of first- and second-degree murder in relation to the deaths of Kenneth Yaretz Jr. and Damien Marks. The Crown theory is that Fraser, 56, was upset with Yaretz, 24, who had taken Fraser’s pickup truck and not returned it. Yaretz and Marks, 31, were roommates at
the time of their disappearance in April 2009. Taking the stand on Wednesday, Nov. 13, was Cherie Yaretz, the stepmother of Kenneth Yaretz Jr. Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Joel Gold, she told the 14-person jury that her stepson had once introduced her to Jayme Russell. “I had come to court with Kenny — he’d asked me to come with him,” she said. “There was a break and we were outside and, I’m not sure why they were here, but he introduced me to Jayme Russell and another guy.”
Yaretz said she didn’t know at the time who Russell was, later learning through the media about his high-profile criminal life. Russell, who has been in jail since 2009, was at one point described by police as the head of the Kamloops chapter of the Independent Soldiers street gang. Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Sandy Watt, Yaretz was asked if she knew her unemployed stepson was working as a drug dealer. “Did I know for sure he was? No,” she replied.
“You were concerned he was, though, weren’t you?” Watt then asked. “Yeah,” Yaretz replied. “You’re concerned for your children. He told me it was all good.” Watt then pressed Yaretz on her stepson’s association with Russell. “Were you ever told by [Ken] Junior that he was a member of that [Independent Soldiers] gang?” Watt asked. “He told me he was not a member,” Yaretz replied. “He just said he knew them — he hung out with them once in a while.” Through his questioning, Watt said Ken
Yaretz Jr. had “serious debt” at the time of his death. In his opening statement to the jury on Nov. 12, Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston said Fraser had been operating a marijuana-grow operation at his Knouff Lake property, where he is alleged to have murdered Yaretz and Marks before burying their bodies in a shallow grave. The jury has been told both men were shot in the back of the head. In previous testimony, court heard Robert Marks, Damien’s father, say his son was acting strange and becoming
Murder victim Kenneth Yaretz introduced his stepmother to Jayme Russell (right), who was, at the time, head of the Independent Soldiers gang. KTW file photo
agitated in the weeks leading to his disappearance. The elder Marks also said Yaretz had offered to sell him a laptop and a pickup truck at different points in early 2009. The trial is scheduled to last four weeks.
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