Dangerous offender evaluation for killer
Having previously advised the court it intended to launch dangerous offender proceedings against a two-time convicted killer, the Crown took the next step on Wednesday and requested an assessment of Elwin Michael Goodpipe.
Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Meghan Mccreary ordered that assessment and set a return date of Jan. 10.
A forensic psychiatrist will complete the report, which will provide an expert opinion on Goodpipe, his background, risk factors, crimes and whether there is a reasonable prospect he could be controlled in the community.
The psychiatrist — Vancouverbased Dr. Todd Tomita — will provide the court with a recommendation within his report, which is expected to be completed within three months.
A date for the dangerous offender hearing has not yet been set, but it’s expected to be sometime in the late winter or early spring.
Defence lawyer Mervyn Shaw said while it’s “regrettable” an assessment had to be ordered, he didn’t argue the Crown’s request. He said he intends to argue the actual dangerous offender application once it gets to the hearing stage.
Goodpipe was convicted on May 1, a jury having taken just four hours to find him guilty of manslaughter in the March 29, 2016 shooting death of Andre Joseph Aubertin. Court heard the 56-yearold man was in his Regina home when two men came in and tried to rob him. One of the men — not Goodpipe — pulled out a shotgun, which then went off.
While there was no evidence Goodpipe knew his accomplice was planning on using a gun, the Crown had argued he was still guilty as he helped plan the robbery — which, in itself, is an inherently dangerous offence.
In asking for the psychiatric assessment, Crown prosecutor Roger De Corby pointed to Goodpipe’s record, which includes numerous convictions for violence and weapons offences. Most notable is a 2006 conviction for manslaughter in the 2004 killing of 44-year-old Wayne Gerald Friday, who was beaten, forced into a trunk and shot. That incident involved several people, and Goodpipe eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter instead of murder, as he hadn’t been as heavily involved as some of the others.