A preliminary hearing began Thursday for a Garson senior accused of shooting a man with a shotgun last June.
Jerry Paiement, 64, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mark Edward Houle, 37, who was shot in the abdomen outside a Garson home on Falconbridge Road last June 5.
Police say a verbal confrontation escalated between two men in relation to an alleged trespassing. Houle was shot once in the abdomen and was pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital.
Justice Guy Mahaffy ordered a publication ban on all evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to last two to three days.
Paiement, who has been in custody since being arrested at his home following the shooting, has yet to have a bail hearing.
Houle was employed at a Tim Hortons outlet and left behind a young daughter.
Paiement, a frail man who stands only about five-foot-six and weighs about 120 pounds, sat passively in the prisoner's box at the beginning of Thursday's preliminary hearing.
