A new trial has now commenced in BC Supreme Court for a Victoria man charged with a homicide in Fernwood in 2010.
Andrew Jonathan Belcourt is accused of a using a firearm to commit the second-degree murder of 52-year old Fernwood resident Leslie Hankel. Belcourt had offered to enter a guilty plea to manslaughter, but the offer was not accepted by crown.
This morning marked the start of a new jury trial that is scheduled for five weeks. The jury was instructed by the judge not to concern themselves with an earlier trial connected to Hankel's death and not to speculate as to why another trial is being held.
Details of the death and the ensuing investigation and trial can't be discussed publicly until they are heard by the new jury.