Trial begins for 3 accused in Shawn Douglas murder

The trial of three men accused in the death of Shawn Douglas began Thursday in Regina.

Joshua Wilson, Johnathan Peepeetch and Dennis Thompson are charged with the first-degree murder of the 54-year-old whose body was found in August 2014.

In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Derek Maher laid out a roadmap for the six-week long trial alleging how Douglas was told “to pray to his God.”

He detailed what happened the night of Aug. 7, when Douglas ended up at a Toronto Street home in Regina’s Heritage neighbourhood.

The Crown alleges the three accused drove Douglas to an ATM where he was forced to withdraw money and his credit card then used for cigarettes.

Maher went on to allege the accused put Douglas into the trunk of a vehicle where he was taken to a grid road on the outskirts of the city and his body dumped in a nearby thicket.

Douglas’s body was found two days later.

Telling the jury they would see and hear some “difficult” things, Maher documented that Douglas’s blood and DNA was found in the vehicles and clothing of the accused, along with a crowbar and hammer.

Seven people were originally charged in Douglas’s death. One had charges stayed, a youth pleaded guilty in February 2017 and is serving an eight-and-a-half year sentence.

Wilson, Peepeetch and Thompson originally began their trial in September 2016 but it was declared a mistrial.