Man charged in Cache Creek shooting death granted bail

A Kamloops-area man accused of shooting an acquaintance to death last month has been released on bail with the consent of prosecutors.

Corey Harkness, 31, is facing one count of second-degree murder stemming from a Jan. 14 shooting inside a Cache Creek home that left 33-year-old Brock Ledoux dead.

Harkness appeared in B.C. Supreme Court on Monday wearing a red prison-issued sweatsuit. About a dozen spectators listened in court as Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan laid out the circumstances of the alleged shooting, but details are protected by a court-ordered ban on publication.

Harkness turned himself in to police within days of the shooting. 

Ledoux had been released from prison a short time before he was shot to death.

Flanagan and defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen agreed on a series of strict conditions under which Harkness was ordered to live while on bail, including orders barring him from possessing weapons or contacting anyone who could be called as a witness if his charges proceed to trial.

Harkness was ordered to reside with relatives while free on bail. He will not be able to leave B.C. without the permission of his bail supervisor and must surrender his passport to police. He is also barred from consuming drugs or alcohol and attending bars or pubs.

Harkness is expected to make his next appearance in Kamloops provincial court on March 18.