Crown alleges accused in Eduardo Balaquit's disappearance and death driven by financial desperation
CTV
A trial started Monday morning for a man charged with manslaughter in the death and disappearance of 59-year-old Eduardo Balaquit.
A trial started Monday morning for a man charged with manslaughter in the death and disappearance of 59-year-old Eduardo Balaquit.
Kyle Alexander Pietz, who was 35 when he was charged in March 2021, has pleaded not guilty to the charge. He is presumed innocent.
A jury trial in the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench is scheduled for six weeks.
On Monday, during the opening day of the trial, jurors heard Balaquit has been missing since June 4, 2018. His body has not been found.
“This is a case about financial desperation,” Crown attorney Vanessa Gama told jurors.
Gama told the court in the Crown’s opening statement at the time of his disappearance, Balaquit was working cleaning a business — Westcon Equipment — in the 300 block of Keewatin Street, where Gama told the court Pietz previously worked.
Gama told the court after Pietz finished a shift on the night of April 24, 2018, Westcon suffered a break-in and about $1,700 was stolen from a petty cash box.