A preliminary inquiry to determine if evidence is strong enough to proceed to trial is ongoing in 91大黄鸭 for a man charged with the 2014 murder of Christopher Ausman.
Steven Randy Pirko was charged with the second-degree murder of Ausman on Nov. 18, 2016.
Ausman鈥檚 body was discovered lying on the sidewalk along Highway 33 in the early hours of Jan. 25, 2014.
鈥淔rom the early on-set of this investigation there were key factors to suggest that Christopher鈥檚 death was suspicious in nature, as such the 91大黄鸭 RCMP Serious Crime Unit (SCU) assumed conduct of the investigation into his death,鈥� said Cpl. Jesse O鈥橠onaghey, in a press release issued at the time of the incident.
Pirko has had other charges against him in the past. He was also sentenced to nine months in prison in June for unrelated charges after pleading guilty to two counts of break and enter and another charge of possession of stolen property.
鈥淚鈥檓 sorry for my actions,鈥� Pirko told the court via the video feed from the Okanagan Correction Centre, where he鈥檚 been held since his November 2016 arrest.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have done these things if I wasn鈥檛 addicted to heroin 鈥� I鈥檓 trying to make the best of a crappy situation.鈥�
The evidence at the preliminary hearing is protected under a publication ban. The hearing began Monday and will decide if there is enough evidence to move the case to a trial. It鈥檚 expected to last three days.
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