Accused in fatal stabbing in British Columbia opts for trial in British Columbia Supreme Court

A man accused of manslaughter after stabbing another man behind a Vancouver homeless shelter in January 2023 has opted to stand trial before a British Columbia Supreme Court judge.

According to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), Jason Robert St. Anne was stabbed to death on January 8, 2023 following an altercation near the intersection of Yukon Street and West 5th Avenue.

According to police, St. Anne lived at the Yukon Shelter and Housing Centre, outside whose door the stabbing took place.

St. Anne was taken to the hospital where he died.

On February 23, the VPD announced that 28-year-old Dillon Robert Goth had been charged with manslaughter in connection with St. Anne's death.

His lawyer, Lisa Helps, told Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Dawn Boblin on August 23 that Goth waived the reading of the charges and chose the method of trial himself, meaning he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Boblin heard that a three-day preliminary inquiry was required. That is a hearing in provincial court to determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial. Such hearings are subject to a statutory publication ban.

Lawyers will now seek dates for further hearings before the case is sent to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

A hearing on Goth's bail is pending, Helps said.

St. Anne's discovery led to the closure of the alley between West 4th and West 5th Avenues while investigators searched the area. Surveillance footage shows investigators finding a stabbing weapon and bagged clothing.