A Mission woman was found guilty of breaking and entering a Manning Park area residence in August, 2014, in Penticton court today, Feb. 3, 2017.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was accurate at the time it was written, however the conviction on this case was overturned on appeal.

You can find that follow up story here. 

PENTICTON - Fingerprints at the scene and “inconsistent actions” factored into a Penticton judge’s decision to find a woman guilty of breaking and entering and committing an indictable offence in court today.

Judge Meg Shaw found Faye-Ann Muriel Thompson of Mission guilty after a review of the facts in a Penticton courtroom this afternoon, Feb. 3.

On Aug. 14, 2014, a couple returned after a 10-day absence to their residence, located in a remote location off Highway 3 on Placer Mountain Forestry Road, southwest of Princeton.

They arrived to find their residence had been broken into and their vehicle missing.

A camera and a purse containing $300 in cash were taken, as well as spare keys for the couple’s vehicle.

Thompson was charged with the theft after her fingerprint was found on the inside of a sliding window in the master bedroom.

At the time, Thompson was working at Manning Park with her boyfriend. They lived in staff housing and on days off cruised the backroads on hiking and “adventure" trips.

They were on one of these outings on an unspecified date in August 2014, when an argument erupted between the two.

Thompson claimed she was physically dragged out of the vehicle by her boyfriend, suffering pulled hair, a blow to the head, a cut to her arm and bruises from being slapped and punched. Her boyfriend then drove off, leaving her stranded on a remote mountain road.

Thompson claimed she walked for two hours down a logging road, bleeding with scratches and cuts, coming upon a campsite with an RV parked, but no one around.

Thompson walked a little further, coming upon the complainants' property, where she said she saw a man who she came to know only as Jason, coming around the house.

The man said he had locked himself out of his house and couldn’t get back in to get his keys.

Thompson claimed she was able to climb a ladder to the bedroom window, which she opened to get into the house in order to open the door for Jason.

She then waited for Jason to come out, who got into the car, a Hyundai Sonata, and started it. He told her he was heading to the Lower Mainland to work in Abbotsford, and she got a ride with him to her home in Mission.

The burned out shell of the Sonata was later found in the Mission area.

Judge Shaw said Thompson’s testimony about her actions following her boyfriend’s assault “don’t accord with common sense.” She said Thompson never attempted to call police, ask for first aid, or ask anyone else for help, nor did she take the time or ask to clean herself up when in the house.

The judge also noted Thompson’s actions in not stopping at Manning Park where she was residing, instead driving all the way to Mission with a stranger, again without notifying the authorities, was inconsistent behaviour, adding Thompson’s evidence changed depending on questions asked.

In rendering her decision, Judge Shaw called Thompsons’ version of the events of the Aug. 14, 2014 incident “not believable," also noting her fingerprints on the window frame.

Judge Shaw concluded by finding Thompson guilty.

Thompson, who has no prior criminal record, will return to court April 12 following the completion of a pre-sentence report, prior to sentencing at a later date.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2017