POT FUELED MURDER, COURT TOLD

Prince George Man Charged in Death of Drug Dealer's Wife

A stash of marijuana worth $80,000 spurred a Prince George man to kill a
drug dealer's wife on a secluded northern ranch, a B.C. Supreme Court jury
heard Wednesday.

David Mostyn Pritchard then tried to pin the blame on his friend, saying he
only helped to bury the body, Crown counsel Michael Fulmer said in his
opening statement.

Pritchard, 38, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Pirkko
Skolos on her ranch in Topley, a tiny community 250 kilometres west of
Prince George, in November 1995.

The Crown alleges 52-year-old Skolos was shot with a .22-calibre revolver,
but despite several searches for her gravesite, which is believed to be
near Prince George, her body has never been found.

Fulmer told the five-woman, seven-man jury the case is largely
circumstantial, but that the evidence taken as a whole points to Pritchard.

The Skoloses ran a cattle ranch, but Pirkko Skolos's husband was also a
wholesale marijuana dealer, he said. A shipment of marijuana worth about
$80,000 arrived as scheduled on Nov. 21, and shortly after it was
delivered, Skolos's husband left to attend his brother's funeral on
Vancouver Island. Skolos went missing sometime between the evening of Nov.
23 and the early hours of Nov. 24, 1995.

Fulmer said evidence is expected to show Skolos was killed and that she
didn't simply disappear of her own accord. Pritchard knew when the shipment
of marijuana was arriving and had been to the Skolos's home before, he said.

The accused arrived at a Prince George motel early on Nov. 24, where his
girlfriend was waiting, hauling two steamer-trunks and a satchel filled
with pot, Crown counsel said. He also had lots of cash, which was unusual
for him, court heard.

Pritchard's fingerprint was found on a grocery-store bag inside one of the
trunks, which had been dumped near Fort St. John, Fulmer said.

In January 2000, he gave police a six-and-a-half-hour videotaped statement
in which he admitted helping his friend rob Skolos and bury her body, but
said his cohort actually killed her, court heard.

The Crown expects to call almost 50 witnesses during the three-and-a-half
month trial. Following the Crown's case, the defence will present its side.
Pritchard was charged in March 1998 and a trial was originally scheduled to
be held in Smithers in January 2000, but the jury was dismissed and further
investigation was launched.