Cooper Nemeth’s accused killer gets probation over stolen vehicle

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This article was published 14/04/2017 (3112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nicholas Bell-Wright was on probation when he was charged in the homicide of 17-year-old Cooper Nemeth. Now, he’s been sentenced to probation again for admitting he was in a stolen vehicle when police found him and arrested him on the second-degree murder charge.

Bell-Wright, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of a motor vehicle obtained by crime. The criminal charge stemmed from the parked and running red Dodge Caravan police found him in just after 4 a.m. on Feb. 21, 2016. It turned out the van had been stolen the day before from the area of McKay Avenue, but there’s no evidence Bell-Wright was the one who stole it.

“It’s my understanding that he was wilfully blind to the fact that the vehicle had been obtained by the commission of an offence,” Crown attorney Mike Himmelman told court.

Bell-Wright received a suspended sentence with 18 months of supervised probation and court-ordered counselling Thursday, but he remains in custody on the second-degree murder charge, which carries an automatic life sentence upon conviction.

The Crown has authorized a direct indictment in the second-degree murder case, moving the case directly to a Court of Queen’s Bench trial. A trial date has not yet been set.

Police found Bell-Wright inside the vehicle near the intersection of Oneida Place and Mercedes Drive, hours after Nemeth’s body was discovered in a recycling bin in the Valley Gardens neighbourhood.

Nemeth, a 17-year-old high school student, had been missing since Feb. 14, 2016. He was last seen leaving a house party.

His disappearance prompted a city-wide search and a strong showing of support from community members who organized volunteers to help find him.

At the time of Nemeth’s death, Bell-Wright was already on a supervised probation order that was imposed as part of his sentence for assaulting a teen acquaintance. He was sentenced in July 2015 for the assault and received a suspended sentence with one year of supervised probation.

The assault conviction was Bell-Wright’s only prior criminal conviction.

He is presumed innocent of the second-degree murder allegation against him.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay