Charges against two Surrey men accused in a deadly hit-and-run near Terrace nearly eight years ago have suddenly been dropped weeks before their B.C. provincial court trial was set to begin.
asserted
trial → accuse → Terrace
Taylor Stogryn, 37, and Conrad Wierzbicki, 35, were charged with indignity to human remains and obstructing justice.
asserted
Stogryn → charge → justice
Stogryn was also accused of failing to stop at the scene of an accident in the 2018 collision that killed Cameron Kerr, 30
On Weds. Oct. 14, Kerr’s brother said the family met with RCMP and Crown counsel, who informed them the Nov. 2 trial would not be proceeding, and charges against both Stogryn and Wierzbicki had been stayed.
asserted
charges → accuse → Stogryn
“It’s really hard to understand how the justice system could lead us to this,” Garrett Kerr said in an interview, adding his family is pretty devastated at the news.
uncertain
family → ’ → news
Cameron Kerr was walking home along the shoulder of Highway 16 in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, when he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver four kilometres west of Terrace.
asserted
he → walk → Terrace
Kerr’s brother said the family was told the case collapsed because testimony from a key witness, a forensic pathologist, was not what it was anticipated to be, and would no longer support a likely conviction.
asserted
it → say → conviction
The indication we were given is that because they couldn’t confirm that they moved his body, they wouldn’t be able to confirm that they stopped in the first place; thereby, they wouldn’t be able to confirm that they knew what had happened, what they had struck, that they had killed a human being,” Garrett Kerr told Global News.
asserted
Kerr → give → News
The BC Prosecution Service, which does not provide its reasons for staying charges except in rare cases, said in a statement: “…the decision to stay the charge in this case was made due to a material change in circumstances that meant the charge assessment standard was no longer met.”
asserted
standard → provide → circumstances
Criminal lawyer and former Crown prosecutor Rob Dhanu, K.C., said it’s relatively rare to see a case like this fall apart so close to trial.
asserted
case → say → trial
“The Crown dropping serious and complicated charges on the eve of trial is the equivalent of a developer putting up a high-rise and watching it crumble just before everyone moves in,” Dhanu said in an interview Thurs.
asserted
Dhanu → drop → interview
Dhanu said the Crown would need to resolve the issues that undermined its case before taking another shot at justice.
asserted
that → say → justice
“Technically, the police could continue to investigate, but the legal reality is it’s highly unlikely the Crown would pursue charges again,” Dhanu told Global News.
uncertain
Dhanu → continue → News
“They really didn’t leave us any shred of hope,” Garrett Kerr said of the decision.
asserted
Kerr → leave → decision
“It felt pretty final.”
asserted
It → feel → ?
Stogryn and Wierzbicki were allegedly among a group of seven on a hunting trip at the time Cameron Kerr was fatally struck.
uncertain
Kerr → strike → time
RCMP allege Kerr’s body was rolled into a ditch, where it remained until he was discovered hours later.
asserted
he → allege → ditch
Within days, RCMP seized a Ford F-350 with a broken mirror on Haida Gwaii, and identified a Lower Mainland driver as the suspect.
asserted
RCMP → seize → suspect
Despite repeated pleas from Kerr’s family and RCMP over the years urging those involved to come forward, the investigation was stalled by a code of silence.
asserted
investigation → repeat → silence
“The idea that they could continue to stay silent and not empathize with Cameron’s loved ones and come forward was just unimaginable.”
uncertain
they → continue → ones
Garrett Kerr said in 2025 after charges were laid.
asserted
charges → say → 2025
The BC RCMP Major Crime Special Projects Unit eventually took over the case and won a court fight in 2023 to hold on to a critical piece of evidence – the suspect truck’s right side mirror – for another year.
asserted
Unit → take → year
According to the ruling, video shows a Ford F-350 towing a boat through Terrace on Nov. 18, 2018 with an intact passenger-side mirror, while CCTV in Prince Rupert hours later showed the same F-350 with the side mirror broken off.
uncertain
CCTV → accord → mirror
BC RCMP said Thursday their investigation remains open and Kerr’s family said it has great respect for how hard police and the Crown worked on the case.
“It’s pretty tough, like, I know the RCMP have done everything they could and yeah, the system’s really not set up to bring these people to justice,” Garrett Kerr said.
uncertain
Kerr → say → justice
“We’re not here because the RCMP are human; we’re here because two other guys are inhuman.”
asserted
guys → ’re → ?
Garrett Kerr has a message for Stogryn and Wierzbicki.
asserted
Kerr → have → Stogryn
“If they’d driven their truck into the river there, Cameron would have jumped in the river immediately and swam halfway across to save them, not knowing them at all,” he told Global News Thursday.
asserted
he → drive → News
“He (Cameron) would have done anything to help someone who was in trouble.”
asserted
who → do → trouble
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