Accused in N.W.T. elder shooting pleads guilty

The young man accused in the July shooting of an elder in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., struck a plea bargain with the Crown in a Yellowknife courtroom on Monday, pleading guilty to three of the five charges against him.

Alexis Taureau, 18, of Fort Good Hope, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, assault with a weapon, and firing a firearm with the intent of causing bodily harm in the July 16 armed invasionwhere Thomas Manuel Sr. received buckshot wounds to his face.

The last charge carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison. As part of the plea bargain, charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault were dropped against Taureau.

No date has been set for Taureau's sentence, but it is expected to take place in Fort Good Hope, a hamlet located about 800 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife.

Manuel and his wife Denise, who are both in their 70s, required treatment in Edmonton following the incident. Denise Manuel fractured her back while trying to escape from the house through a window. Several of the couple's grandchildren were in the home at the time, but they were not hurt.