PAIGE PARSONS Jury views violent video of Mac’s worker being shot
An Edmonton jury watched security footage Thursday of a man being shot by one of a trio of masked suspects who fled the Mill Woods convenience store they’d just robbed.
Laylin Cole Alex Delorme is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and armed robbery in connection to the deaths of Ricky Massin Cenabre, 41, and Karanpal Singh Bhangu, 35, who were both shot while working at two different Mac’s convenience stores in south Edmonton on Dec. 18, 2015.
Crown prosecutors allege Delorme, Colton James Steinhauer and another man carried out the two fatal robberies and were arrested after crashing a vehicle on Whitemud Drive as they fled police.
On Thursday morning, the jury heard evidence about what happened at the store at 3208 82 St. in Mill Woods where Bhangu was working on the night he was killed.
Security footage entered as an exhibit shows Bhangu alone in the store, sweeping up when a person wearing a hoodie and with a bandana tied over their face walks in brandishing a handgun.
The masked person hits Bhangu in the head with the gun and directs him over to the till as two more masked people come in.
One pulls a machete out of a duffel bag.
With the knife and gun pointed at him, Bhangu opens the store’s tills.
His attackers fill bags with cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets, hitting Bhangu again and then kicking him when he falls to the ground.
Bhangu stands up behind the counter as the attackers start to leave.
The one with the handgun turns back and shoots Bhangu as they rush out of the store.
Bhangu falls to the ground behind the till.
He isn’t seen by a man who arrives minutes later to deliver the store’s newspapers.
Later he is found by two police officers sent to the store to respond to an alarm.
Const. Phil Aube testified Thursday that once inside, he and his partner found Bhangu on the floor behind the till in a pool of blood.
“His eyes were closing and he was gasping for air,” Aube told the jury.
He said they attempted to bandage two bleeding wounds and began CPR as they waited for backup and emergency medical services.
“It honestly felt like an eternity,” Aube said.
When paramedics arrived, several police officers carried Bhangu from behind the till and put him on a waiting stretcher.
He was rushed to University of Alberta Hospital, court heard.
Aube and his partner went along and watched as staff in the trauma unit tried to save Bhangu, before declaring him dead.
After viewing the videos, the jury was dismissed for the day. The trial is expected to resume Friday.