A jury has found a Manitoba man guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the alleged death of 59-year-old Eduardo Balaquit, who disappeared nearly four years ago.
Kyle Pietz, 36, has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge.
The jury delivered its verdict at Manitoba’s Queen’s Bench Court just before 8:00 pm Wednesday, after beginning deliberations earlier that day.
Sitting in the front row of the courtroom, Balaquit’s family sighed as the jury foreman read the verdict, then hugged and held hands.
“My dad did everything for us. He was a kind man to everyone. It means a lot that this man is leaving.” [to jail]”Edward Balaquit, the victim’s son, told the media outside the courthouse.
Balaquit was last seen on June 4, 2018, when he was working as a night cleaner at a business in Winnipeg. He disarmed the building’s alarm code at 6:05 pm and was never seen or heard from again.
His body was never found and there was no DNA evidence linking Pietz to his death.
“Throughout this whole process, we were hoping that the evidence would show us where my dad is, or [Pietz] finally tell us where it is,” Edward said.
“That’s the piece we really want to know.”
A Case of Financial Desperation: Crown
Over the course of the trial, which was presided over by Queen’s Court Judge Sadie Bond and lasted nearly a month, the Crown argued that financial desperation drove Pietz to rob Balaquit, and that the 59-year-old died. during that robbery. The Crown alleged that Pietz disposed of Balaquit’s body.
Prosecutors argued that Pietz urgently needed money as he was unemployed and owed creditors a significant amount of money.
However, defense attorney Amanda Sansregret argued that the Crown’s claim that Pietz killed Balaquit for financial reasons was nothing more than a theory.
Following the verdict, Pietz’s bail was revoked and he was remanded into custody awaiting sentencing on June 8. The Crown will seek a life sentence.
During the trial, the court heard that Pietz worked until May 2018 at Westcon Equipment and Rentals, the same building as the victim.
Prosecutors alleged that weeks before Balaquit’s disappearance, Pietz stole $1,700 in cash from a safe at the business. Shortly after the robbery, Pietz stopped going to work.
The Crown argued that financial desperation drove it back into business on June 4, 2018.
Prosecutors alleged that Pietz killed Balaquit during that night’s robbery, then put his body in his truck, covered it with boxes and drove it to a rural area outside of town.
No one testified to seeing the two together that night. However, the court heard that $700 had been withdrawn from Balaquit’s accounts and police found a Post-it note with Balaquit’s personal identification numbers at Pietz’s home.
Balaquit’s family testified that he was a hardworking father whose life was filled with consistency and routine.
Since his father’s disappearance, Edward has married and become the father of a girl himself.
“Every milestone he has, I try to imagine what he would do. I try to be the father that I think he would want me to be,” Edward said, holding back tears.
“I wish I knew my father, really.”
Reference-www.cbc.ca