Former Weyburn resident John Raymond Leippy was committed to stand trial on all charges relating to an armed robbery last August, after the last witness gave testimony at his preliminary hearing on Wednesday in Weyburn provincial court.
The Crown had one last witness to present at the hearing, following which Judge Wallace V. Goliath said the evidence presented was sufficient to put before a judge and jury in Court of Queen's Bench. The bulk of the hearing was held on Dec. 22, in a special day-long sitting of court.
Leippy, who has been in custody since being arrested in Regina last fall, was remanded in custody until his trial takes place.
The Queen's Bench office indicated they will receive a copy of the indictment, and the preliminary hearing will be transcribed in its entirety, before a date can be set for the trial. There is a ban on the publication of evidence presented at the preliminary hearing.
Leippy stands charged with attempted murder in the first degree, armed robbery with violence, possession of a firearm while prohibited, theft of a vehicle from SaskWater, breach of an undertaking and breach of conditions of recognizance.
The charges arise from an armed robbery of the owner of El Rancho Motel, Harry Siourounis, of around $11,000 in cash on Aug. 1. City police said at the time after he had been accosted by two armed men who pulled up in a truck late that night, he handed over the cash in a briefcase, and was then shot twice in the leg.
No other suspects have been arrested in the crime, nor have any charges been laid in relation to the arson of four horse barns on the Weyburn exhibition grounds, which took place at the time of the robbery.
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