Supreme Court won’t hear murder appeal

Alberta man shot roommate, then set trailer on fire

Aman convicted of shooting his roommate in the head at point-blank range and then setting his trailer alight while drunk won’t have his appeal heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Wayne Foster Yates was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2006 shooting of James Brideau in Hines Creek, Alta., about 600 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

Yates killed Brideau, his roommate at the time, after the two got into an argument where Brideau made a number of uncouth remarks about his roommate’s sister, according to Alberta Appeals Court documents.

At his trial, Yates said he should only be convicted of manslaughter because he wasn’t fully responsible for his actions as he was heavily intoxicated and provoked to kill the other man.

The night before the two men had been in an argument when Yates attempted to move out of the trailer the two shared. However, when he went to retrieve his belongings, he was unable to find his gun.

The next day, the two started drinking beer together and after a trip to the liquor store, they started arguing over the gun. Brideau brought the weapon out from a backroom where he had hidden it under a water heater.

At this point the two started arguing over the hidden weapon and then Brideau said he was going to have sex with Yates’ sister when she arrived at the trailer later that day.

Yates then took off in Brideau’s truck after the shooting, but not before the trailer was set on fire — something Yates said he doesn’t remember doing, court documents say.

He lost his appeal in the Alberta Court of Appeal.

As is its custom, the Supreme Court gave no reason for its decision not to hear the case.