Accident or murder? A look at some court cases involving fatal shootings
A Saskatchewan jury has found farmer Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie. Court heard that Boushie and his friends drove onto Stanley’s property seeking help for a flat tire, but had also tried breaking into a truck on a neighbouring farm. Stanley testified he fired some warning shots in the air before approaching the SUV. He said he reached in to grab the car keys in the ignition and the gun he was holding accidentally went off. Boushie was shot in the back of the head.
Here are a few court cases involving people charged with murder who said the shootings were accidental:
April 21, 1996: Nick Biuk, 26, was shot and killed at a backyard barbecue in Kitchener, Ont. Michael Meiler, angry that his estranged wife had a new boyfriend, had gone to the home with a gun. One man jumped on Meiler from behind in an attempt to get the gun. Meiler flew into Biuk and a struggled ensued. Biuk died from a single shot to the abdomen. Meiler testified that he did not intend to shoot Biuk and that the gun fired accidentally. A jury convicted him of Biuk’s second-degree murder and the attempted murder of his wife’s boyfriend. He was sentenced to life with no chance at parole for 12 years.
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