21-year-old pleads not-guilty to Lake Street murder, trial set to begin

The trial of a young Sault Ste. Marie man facing a first-degree murder charge will get underway April 3.

Johnathan Townsend pleaded not guilty Monday to the charge, before the Crown and defence selected a jury to to hear the homicide case.

The 21-year-old man is charged in connection with the Aug. 8, 2013 death of Coreillie Bonhomme, 42, whose body was discovered in a Lake Street apartment. 

Superior Court Justice Michael Varpio is presiding at the trial, which he told prospective jurors will take an estimated two weeks to complete.

Assistant Crown attorneys Crystal Tomusiak and Heidi Mitchell are prosecuting the case, while defence counsel Jennifer Tremblay-Hall is representing Townsend.

When he was charged, investigators with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service said the woman had been stabbed and they had seized an edged weapon.

Townsend was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was upgraded after investigators travelled to Kokomo, Ind., where they met with police as a result of new information the Sault officers had received.

Kokomo police subsequently announced that a 12-year-old girl had been charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder in relation to the Sault case.

Townsend was committed to stand trial in November 2014, following a three-day preliminary inquiry, where Ontario Court Justice John Kukurin imposed a publication ban, prohibiting reporting any evidence heard at the hearing.