Bitternose found guilty of murder

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Quinton Lloyd Bitternose is facing life in prison after being found guilty for the murder of Wayne Friday.

The 12-person jury in the case found Bitternose guilty on May 16. The first-degree murder charge brings with it an automatic sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

Friday was abducted from a home in Regina on Nov. 20, 2004. His naked body was found on Muscowpeetung First Nation later that day. He had been beaten and shot twice.

A Crown witness testified that Bitternose was one of a group of men that went to the home in the early morning hours on the day in question. Friday was beaten, the witness said, then forced into the trunk of a car. Another witness, who has been charged in connection with the murder, testified that he saw Bitternose shoot Friday as he lay in the trunk, after which another man used the same gun to shoot Friday a second time. Neither of the witnesses can be identified due to a publication ban.

Bitternose chose to defend himself in the trial that began in Court of Queen's Bench in Regina on May 8, but was removed from the courtroom on May 11 after failing to sit down after being asked to do so by Justice Ted Malone. A closed-circuit television system was brought into the courtroom to allow Bitternose to continue to take part in the proceedings, but he chose not to participate and called no witnesses.

Bitternose was one of six people charged in connection with the murder. No court dates have been set for the other five accused.