By David F. Rooney
A crowd-sourcing fundraiser has been established to help Stacey Thur attend the Victoria, BC, trial of the man accused of murdering her son, Daniel Levesque, three years ago.
“Stacey needs help to stay in Victoria… for the very important trial to bring justice for Daniel,” says the message on the front of the gofundme.com page created by Jean Moxam. “This will be a very hard time for the family financially and emotionally. Please let’s all help with our support. The trial is going to be three months long. I know we can do this, so share and donate for the love of Daniel and his surviving family whom we all love.”
Stacey’s costs for travelling to Victoria and staying there for the three months the trial is estimated to last are calculated to be about $10,000. So far, more than $5,200 have been raised.
The Curent was alerted to the fundraiser by former Times Review Editor Aaron Orlando.
“Hi guys, I got a message from Ranee Hantula asking for help spreading the word about a crowd sourcing fundraiser so mom Stacey can attend the murder trial arising from her son Daniel’s death,” Orlando said in an e-mail to local news media outlets. “Ranee wasn’t sure if I still worked at the paper, so the context was raising media awareness of the fund. Any help raising awareness would be great.”
Josh Bredo, the man accused of murdering Daniel on August 3, 2011, was originally charged with second-degree murder, but that charge was stayed on December 9, 2011, after a pathologist’s report cast doubt on the cause of Daniel’s death.
However, the case was not closed. Police continued to investigate Daniel’s death and on Dec. 21, 2012, first-degree murder charges were laid against Bredo, who was arrested in Okotoks, Alberta. He has pled not guilty to the charge. His trial is expected to begin in the New Year.
