Shaun Ross Wiebe.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/ Shaun Wiebe

A Vernon pharmacist charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of his 37-year-old partner is scheduled to plead guilty.

Shaun Ross Wiebe has waived his right to a trial and will appear in court in Vernon, May 1, to plead guilty in relation to her death. It's not yet known what charge the 45-year-old will plead guilty to.

The case dates back to March 2018 when 37-year-old Heather Barker was found unresponsive inside her Cordon Place home, in the Rise neighbourhood of Vernon. The mother of three was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital where she died.

Heather Barker died in March 2018. Her former partner has now been charged with manslaughter.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK

At the time, neighbours told several media outlets that they’d heard yelling and shouting coming from the house.

Almost three years later in January 2021, Wiebe was charged with manslaughter. He was also charged with assault causing bodily harm for an incident that took place several weeks before Barker died.

Details surrounding Barker's death are still not known.

Almost two years after her death, Wiebe lost his pharmacy licence in December 2019.

The B.C. College of Pharmacists said that Wiebe suffered from a substance addiction that rendered him unfit to practice.

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"The (College of Pharmacists) was satisfied that there is (sufficient) evidence that the registrant suffers from a substance addiction that renders him unfit to practice at this time," the pharmacy regulator said at the time. "The (College of Pharmacists) was of the view that the registrant’s continued practice poses a risk to the public, and that this risk cannot be addressed at this time with conditions or limits. Therefore, nothing short of suspension at this time will adequately protect the public."

Wiebe became a licenced pharmacist in 2002 and according to a 2015 article in the Vernon Morning Star, graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2002 and then moved to Vernon.

He ran the pharmacy at the Target store before it closed down and then opened up Wiebe’s Pharmacy on 35 Street in April 2015. That shut down in May 2018, months after Barker's death.

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He doesn't appear to have any criminal record in B.C. except for a ticket for distracted driving and failing to remain on the scene of an accident in 2017.

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