In Brief

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This article was published 04/05/2010 (5719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Mountie denied bail

A judge has denied bail to a former Manitoba RCMP officer who gave up the badge and allegedly became a high-ranking Hells Angels associate.

Wayne Shuttleworth learned Monday he will have to remain behind bars while pending on charges connected to a massive undercover police investigation dubbed Project Divide.

Shuttleworth has been in custody since December, when police executed a series of search warrants and arrested 31 targets in Manitoba and British Columbia.

A court-ordered ban prevents specific details of the bail hearing from being published.

Shuttleworth, 39, has been charged with participating in a criminal organization, trafficking a firearm, possession of proceeds of crime and conspiracy to launder money.

Teens plead guilty to murder

THE Crown is seeking the maximum youth sentence for two teen girls who admit to participating in the random killing of a Winnipeg woman.

The pair, who were 14 at the time of the October 2006 attack against Audrey Cooper, have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for justice officials agreeing not to seek an adult penalty.

Prosecutor Ami Kotler told court Monday they should be given four years of custody and three years community supervision, which is the longest sentence allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Defence lawyers say the teens should be released immediately with more than three-and-a-half years of time already served behind bars. They said both girls, now 17, have made significant positive changes in their lives since their arrests.

Man’s death treated as homicide

RCMP in Churchill are treating the death Sunday of a 53-year-old man as a homicide.

Investigators in the northern town were called to a home where they found the man inside unresponsive.

There have been no arrests made.

Friends have identified the victim as Geoff Johnston, who lived in Churchill for three years and did maintenance work for Manitoba Housing Authority.

George Lundie worked with Johnston and said a co-worker found his lifeless body at the bottom of the stairs in his apartment around 5 a.m. Sunday. One Churchill resident who would not give her name said the body was found at the Fox Apartments, a Manitoba Housing complex at the edge of town.

Police said Monday an autopsy will be conducted.

— Staff