Nearly seven years after 52-year-old Leslie Hankel was shot and killed during a home invasion, his accused killer has been found guilty in court.
Andrew Jonathon Belcourt was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 slaying in Hankel’s apartment.
Belcourt pleaded not guilty to the charge and instead offered to plead guilty to manslaughter, but that was rejected by the Crown.
During the four-week trial, court heard that a then-19-year-old Belcourt and an accomplice kicked in the door to Hankel’s Pembroke Street apartment armed with a shotgun.
The gun fired and Hankel was shot in the side of the head, dying almost instantly.
The Crown said the pair wrongfully believed there was a large amount of marijuana in Hankel’s apartment and were trying to rob him.
Hankel’s sisters were present when the verdict was read and said they felt justice had finally been served seven years after their brother’s death.
“It was pretty brutal, what happened to him and he was the true victim out of this. He didn’t have any connection with these people, he didn’t know them,” said Hankel’s sister Kathy Rogers. “I can’t imagine what his last few minutes were like.”
It’s the second time Belcourt has been found guilty, but he successfully appealed his first conviction in 2012.
His sentencing will take place at a later, undisclosed date.
