Not guilty of manslaughter

Photo: topmmanews.com

Cory Richard Eric Van Gilder has been found not guilty of manslaughter in the one-punch death of Zachary Gaudette.

The jury returned its verdict just after 5 p.m. Tuesday after deliberating since Monday.

Gaudette died in hospital after Van Gilder hit him in the neck with a single blow on on Feb. 17, 2016, outside the Highway 97 Cactus Club restaurant in Kelowna.

Police found his unconscious body on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.

When the unanimous verdict was read, one female juror began crying.

Van Gilder made a bit of a yelp and started crying himself, putting his head in his hands as he sobbed.

At the time of the incident, 30-year-old Gaudette had a blood alcohol level of 0.276 and was challenging the crowd outside the restaurant to a fight.

Witnesses described him as red in the face, sweating and heard him say: “I’ll fight everybody here, I’ll fight any one of you, I would snatch any one of you..."

Van Gilder, who was an MMA fighter, walked up, punched Gaudette once and walked away. Gaudette fell to the ground and hit his head.

Family at the Kelowna courthouse refused to speak after the verdict.

– with files from Wayne Moore