Brandon Sun - PRINT EDITION
A Brandon man has pleaded guilty to weapon offences after an iPod linked him to a pair of semi-automatic rifles.
Photos stored on the iPod showed Charles Kevin Starr in possession of the rifles at a time when he was banned from having firearms.
In Brandon provincial court on Thursday, 49-year-old Starr pleaded guilty to careless storage of a firearm and three counts of possessing weapons contrary to a court order.
On July 22, 2010, Brandon police, armed with a search warrant for drugs, raided Starr's Westaway Bay home.
Inside, they found a .177-calibre pellet rifle lying unsecured on top of a bookshelf in the basement. While it’s a pellet gun, legally the rifle is considered a firearm.
They also found two high-powered crossbows and the arrows to go with them. One crossbow hung on a set of shelves in the basement, while the other was in Starr's bedroom closet.
Starr was in trouble for having the pellet rifle and crossbows because he was under a firearms and weapons ban as a result of a conviction for drug possession in September 2006.
However, police also found two old Canadian military ballistic vests. Those type of bulletproof vests haven't been used by the military for some time, Crown attorney Grant Hughes said, but they're not supposed to be available to the general public.
Such vests are now illegal to possess without a licence but that legislation wasn't in place at the time of this raid.
There was also a box of non-functioning ammunition.
Police also found an iPod that contained photos of Starr with of a pair of assault-style rifles that weren't found during the above raid.
That picture would become a key clue during another raid at a different home on Oct. 10, 2011.
Inside that Glen Avenue home, which is the home of one of Starr’s relatives, officers found a metal gun safe.
The safe contained 10 handguns, two sawed-off shotguns, two long-barrelled shotguns, five hunting rifles, a sawed-off rifle and numerous round of assorted ammunition.
The safe also held two assault-style rifles — a .22-calibre semi-automatic Remington Model 597 rifle and a .22-calibre Armi Jagr Italy AP-80 semi-automatic rifle.
The serial number on the Remington was removed and the Armi Jagr rifle is a prohibited firearm.
Police learned they were the same assault rifles that appeared with Starr in the photos discovered on the iPod found during the first Westaway Bay raid.
Investigators also determined that the photos were taken inside the Westaway Bay home when Starr lived there between Sept. 1, 2007, and Nov. 30, 2010, during the time he was on the firearms ban.
Defence lawyer Bob Harrison asked for a pre-sentence report that will consider Starr’s aboriginal background and look at the possibility of a conditional sentence.
Judge John Combs set sentencing for June 28.
Two other men and one woman still face charges in relation to the weapons found during the second raid.
» ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition April 27, 2012
We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.
You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.
Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.
The Brandon Sun does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. Comments are moderated before publication. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
A Brandon man has pleaded guilty to weapon offences after an iPod linked him to a pair of semi-automatic rifles.
Photos stored on the iPod showed Charles Kevin Starr in possession of the rifles at a time when he was banned from having firearms.
Already subscribed? Login to view full article.
Not yet a subscriber? Click Here to Signup
A Brandon man has pleaded guilty to weapon offences after an iPod linked him to a pair of semi-automatic rifles.
Photos stored on the iPod showed Charles Kevin Starr in possession of the rifles at a time when he was banned from having firearms.
A subscription to the Brandon Sun Newspaper is required to view this article. Please update your user information if you are already a newspaper subscriber.
Most Popular
Sort by: Newest to Oldest | Oldest to Newest | Most Popular 0 Comments
You can comment on most stories on brandonsun.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.