Tannery manslaughter prelim set for August
December dates originally considered for preliminary inquiry for three teenage boys charged in homicide investigation, but judge expresses concerns about inordinate delay
Three teenage boys awaiting trial by jury on a manslaughter charge will be back in youth court this summer for a preliminary inquiry to test the Crown’s case against them.
The young trio - two from the Fredericton area and one from the Woodstock area - are jointly charged with manslaughter stemming from the September 2024 death of André Bourgeois, 41, of Grande-Digue, on Sept. 22.
The Fredericton Police Force allege the teens assaulted Bourgeois in the Tannery courtyard in downtown Fredericton in the early-morning hours of Sept. 22, and that the victim died Sept. 27 as a result of injuries sustained in that fracas days earlier.
The boys elected last week to be tried by a Court of King’s Bench judge and jury, and Fredericton youth court Judge Pierre Gionet set the matter over for a week so the lawyers could co-ordinate their schedules.