Queens Bench Court in Battleford was not the beehive of activity many expected it would be this week.
The dates of Jan. 11 to 15 were set aside last summer for what was anticipated to be the second-degree murder trial of Nicholas Giroux. He was charged in connection to a Sept. 30, 2013 early-morning incident at the Travelodge in North Battleford, in which 20-year-old Thang Sian Mang was stabbed to death.
But as typically happens in the criminal justice system, the case was resolved quietly several months ago.
Giroux entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder in a court appearance in Prince Albert this past September. Word of the plea did not make the news until late last week.
Giroux was a founding member of the Terror Squad street gang and was previously sentenced for cocaine trafficking. The North Battleford murder was reportedly gang-related, although the victim himself did not have any connection to gangs.
The case was also unusual as neither the victim nor the accused were from North Battleford at the time of the incident. Both were from Saskatoon.
Giroux had been in custody since shortly after the North Battleford stabbing death, making his first court appearances in Saskatoon on a separate assault charge.
The sentence handed down in September, in which Giroux reportedly has no possibility of parole for 10 years, draws a close to a sad chapter in North Battleford’s history.
The murder happened on the last day of what was one of the most infamous months ever in North Battleford for high-profile crime incidents. It had taken place on the date of a previously scheduled public meeting at Don Ross Centre to address the crime situation in North Battleford.
City officials had called the meeting in the wake of three shootings in the city as well as a walking-trail sexual assault that happened just days before. There had also been online rumours earlier that month about possible gang shooting violence erupting, rumours that were later debunked by police and city officials.
The stabbing at the Travelodge triggered a public furor over crime in North Battleford at the time. More public meetings were held that fall. Meanwhile, the city received some unflattering national attention as “Canada’s Crime Capital” — a label conferred by CTV News in a national story that aired that fall.
Since that time, public officials have ramped up efforts to combat crime. The immediate aftermath of the murder saw stepped-up efforts to establish Neighbourhood Watch in the city.
In 2014, North Battleford took on several Community Safety Officers for enhanced bylaw enforcement duties, while a new full-time position of community safety co-ordinator was created as well. Those efforts have continued through 2015 and into this year.
