Murder suspect to stay behind bars until trial, judge rules
Murder suspect Christian Whitebear will remain in custody pending trial, a Calgary judge ruled Wednesday.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice John McCarthy agreed with Crown prosecutors Susan Ansari and Joe Mercier there were grounds to detain Whitebear.
McCarthy made the ruling after hearing submissions from Ansari and defence lawyer George Lebessis. At the request of counsel, McCarthy imposed a publication ban on the submissions and his reasons for denying Whitebear bail.
Whitebear, 25, was arrested in Edmonton on Feb. 14, almost a month after Darby Soop, also known as Darby Shade, was fatally stabbed in southwest Calgary.
Soop was found stabbed to death Jan. 16 in the parking lot of Westbrook Mall shortly after police were called to a home on 37th Street near 10th Avenue S.W. for reports of a disturbance.
Once there, police found a chaotic scene of panicked people, allegedly a result of a group of party crashers who became aggressive with Soop and his friends.
Speaking to Postmedia in January, the mother of two of the invited guests said the party crashers attacked her son and Soop with liquor bottles and bear spray before chasing them out of the home and across the road, where Soop was beaten with batons and machetes outside Westbrook Mall.
The attackers fled the scene before police arrived.
A second suspect, Matthew Crane-Watchmaker, 19, was arrested Jan. 30 in Wetaskiwin.
He is to face a bail hearing next week.