A handful of family and friends were on hand for the start of what is expected to be a long trial in Williams Lake Supreme Court this month.
Guy William Smith entered pleas of “not guilty” to one count of manslaughter and one count of interfering with a dead body. The charges are in relation to the death of Likely area resident Gary Price more than four years ago and the gruesome discovery of Price’s body in a well on a private property one year later, in September of 2014.
“We are here to let them know that he was loved and cared about and is missed,” said Price’s sister Gail outside the courtroom Monday.
Joseph Temple and Alexander Pace are representing Crown counsel in the case while Richard Kaiser is the lead defence attorney in the Supreme Court trial presided over by Justice Marguerite Church.
With his crutches laying on the floor beside the prisoner’s box, Smith listened as his lawyer, Kaiser, appealed to Church for a voir dire to challenge the validity of the initial search warrant used by police to search Smith’s property in the days after Price’s disappearance.
The voir dire, which is essentially a trial within a trial used to determine the admissibility of evidence, could take days or even weeks, as Kaiser told the court he would be requesting to cross-examine several witnesses as they relate to the search warrant.
Price was 60 years old in 2013 and living in a remote area near Cariboo Lake when his family first reported him missing on March 3, 2013.
Price’s truck was found about one kilometre from Likely on the Keithley Creek Road, pulled over on the shoulder, but pointed towards his home at Cariboo Lake. At the time police determined Price was last seen alive Feb. 23.
Still inside the vehicle were Price’s groceries he had purchased at the store, including food for his pet cat that was waiting for his return at home.
Investigators described Price a quiet man who kept to himself, but was also known as being polite and respectful.
Police launched an extensive ground and air search in the days that followed however failed to locate Price’s whereabouts.
On Sept. 19, 2014 the Williams Lake RCMP received complaints of human remains being located in a water well on a private property in Likely.
A month later on Oct. 22, the RCMP confirmed the remains had been identified as that of Price.
Smith elected to be tried by judge alone.
The trial is scheduled for three weeks.