Archie LePretre.
Image Credit: InMemoriam
December 11, 2013 - 9:33 AM
KAMLOOPS – Three arrests were made in the 2011 murder of Archie LePretre late last week and one Kamloops-area man will be in court this week facing charges of murder as a result.
LePretre, of Vancouver, was in Kamloops visiting a cousin when they were attacked at the Stuart Wood Elementary School basketball court on March 22, 2011. Taken to hospital with stab wounds, the 23-year-old was pronounced dead at Royal Inland Hospital a short time later.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Cheryl Bush says only 24-year-old Travis Johnny is currently facing charges and the other two men, also from the Kamloops area, were released due to a lack of evidence. The investigation continues and it is unknown at this point if more charges will be made.
Police said from the beginning they believed the attack was targeted and gang-related. They established LePretre had ties to a Lower Mainland gang while the suspects were linked to a known rival gang.
The case has required numerous types of investigative resources and techniques, Bush says, but it has been a very long and extensive investigation.
“These cases are never closed,” she says, “they will continue to work the case.”
Johnny is known to police and has a previous criminal record, Bush says, and is expected in court this Thursday on the murder charge. He remains in custody.
To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013