A Surrey man has been found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of another man during a 2012 home invasion.
Russell Atma Bidesi, 24, was on trial for the death of Kacey Rogers. Bidesi was charged with second-degree murder, but on Tuesday (May 19) a B.C. Supreme Court judge found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
At the opening of Bidesi’s trial last October, the Crown alleged Rogers’ killing resulted from a planned robbery gone wrong. Prosecutors cla
imed Bidesi and two other men, Fabien Lyde and Joshua Martinez, went to Rogers’ duplex on Grosvenor Road in Whalley, where they intended to commit a home invasion and robbery.
When they arrived, Crown contended, Bidesi fired several shotgun rounds into the front door. When Rogers, 31, looked out a window to investigate the noise, he was shot in the head and killed.
The court heard the assailants continued to enter the home, where they confronted Rogers’ girlfriend, took some cash and fled.
Lyde earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced in 2014 to six years prison. Martinez also pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm and four other firearms charges. He was sentenced to seven years jail. Both were given credit for time spent in pretrial custody.
Bidesi’s next court date on the Rogers case is scheduled for May 28. He’ll be sentenced at a later date.
Bidesi is also charged with second degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Bradley McPherson at a party Christmas Eve in Surrey. That trial was to begin in February, but was adjourned to an unspecified later date.
