Prince George, B.C.- Justice Glen Parrett has at least another hour’s worth of instructions to give to the jury in the  Cody Legebokoff trial.

Justice Parrett’s  charge to the jury  was delayed  as the accused  rose to  plead guilty to the lesser count of 2^nd degree murder in  the deaths of Jill Stuchenko, Cynthia Maas, Natasha Montgomery and Loren Leslie.

The pleas were a confirmation of the closing argument put forth by Defence lawyer James Heller, who, last week,  called on the jury  to find his client guilty of second degree murder.

But reducing the  charge  is  a matter that must first be accepted by the Crown, and Crown Counsel’s  Joseph Temple firmly refused to accept  the plea, believing the Crown has proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Legebokoff is guilty of  first degree murder.

Justice Parrett’s instructions, called on the  members of the jury to  “make all reasonable efforts to reach a unanimous decision”.  He reminded the jurors they had sworn an oath to reach a just and proper verdict based solely on the evidence.

Justice Parrett led the jury through issues of  circumstantial evidence versus direct evidence, hearsay testimony and credibility of witnesses.  In each case he  provided jurors with examples of how they could accept some or  all or none of the evidence provided as they make their journey to a verdict.  He advised the jury that  to find an accused guilty  on circumstantial  evidence  is acceptable if they find beyond a reasonable doubt”   the “guilt of the accused is the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the proven facts.”

He will continue his  charge to the jury tomorrow morning, after which the jury will retire to begin its deliberations.