Assistant Crown attorney Len Walker will call his first witness Thursday in a first-degree murder trial against a Sudbury senior.
Jerry Paiement, 65, faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of Mark Edward Houle, 37, who died after being 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 onto Paiement?s property.
Houle was shot once in the abdomen and was pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital, say police.
Paiement, who was arrested at his home following the shooting, was denied bail and has been in custody at the Sudbury District Jail since his arrest 18 months ago.
Houle was employed at a Tim Hortons outlet. He left behind a young daughter.
Paiement, a frail man who stands five-foot-six and weighs about 120 pounds, was wearing a suit, jacket and tie while his defence counsel Donald Plaunt and Walker helped select a jury Monday.
The Crown is expected to call about a dozen witnesses with the trial expected to last two to three weeks.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Paiement would face a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
The presiding judge is Justice Louise Gauthier of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
