The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor As the man charged in the recent death of a Pelican Narrows man is held in custody, new details are emerging of a homicide first reported as an accident. The StarPhoenix reports that the accused, Thurston Jack Thomas of Pelican Narrows, is the nephew of the deceased, John James Ballantyne. Thomas, 24, appeared in La Ronge Provincial Court last Friday, March 1, on a second-degree murder charge. He was remanded into custody and transferred to Prince Albert, where he was to appear in court again yesterday. As with all homicide cases, it will likely be some time before Thomas enters a plea. It also remains to be seen whether the courts agree there is enough evidence to support the RCMP's murder charge. Police say Thomas and Ballantyne, 39, were on a snowmobiling trip between Pelican Narrows and a camp outside Creighton when Ballantyne suffered serious injuries. Ballantyne was taken to the Flin Flon General Hospital the evening of Feb. 23. Police and the hospital were told he had been in a snowmobile accident. Ballantyne later died at the hospital as a result of his injuries. A police investigation subsequently determined the death was a homicide, not an accident.
