A petition requesting an out-of-province prosecutor be assigned to the Colten Boushie murder case is gaining support across the country.
Boushie’s cousin Skyler Brown is collecting signatures for the petition in the Battlefords and area, in the hopes of finding justice for his cousin.
Boushie, 22, died in a shooting on Gerald Stanley’s ranch near Biggar, Sask on Aug. 9. The alleged details surrounding his death are still unclear, but an alleged version of what happened was explained in a police document called an Information to Obtain.
Stanley has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is out on bail while he awaits trial.
“The investigation and judicial proceedings have been handled inadequately and we would like an outside perspective to the case,” he said. “We’re just trying to get this out there because we can’t let it go unnoticed.”
However, Aaron Fox, a lawyer with McDougall Gauley LLP in Regina, said even though the SUV Boushie was killed in wasn’t independently tested, it’s hard to prove in court there’s a disadvantage for the defense.
The petition is gaining support across Canada, being distributed in cities and towns from Calgary to Ottawa.
Brown said the group is working on an online version of the petition, but until then supporters can connect on Facebook under the group Justice for Colten Boushie.
The group is collecting signatures until Oct. 31, which would have been Boushie’s 23rd birthday. The petition will then be brought to the Saskatchewan Minister of Justice and Attorney General Gordon Wyant and RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.
“He was my best friend, he was my first cousin, my brother and it tears me apart not having him every day, knowing that Gerald Stanley gets to spend holidays with his family and we never get to see my brother again,” Brown said.
Stanley will be back in court in January for a preliminary hearing.