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By Dylana Kneeshaw

JURY ACQUITTAL

Shuswap man acquitted in deadly 2021 shooting at Scotch Creek car wash

May 9, 2025 | 4:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — A North Shuswap man charged in a fatal shooting was acquitted by a B.C. Supreme Court jury Friday (May 9) in Kamloops Law Courts. Fifty-four-year-old Paul Binder was facing a second-degree murder charge after shooting 32-year-old John Vance in a Scotch Creek car wash in June of 2021.

After less than a day of deliberations, defense lawyer Jay Michi says the jury returned with a verdict of not guilty to both the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

“It was a complex charge. A lot of issues that they had to consider,” explains Michi. “We got the message at noon [Friday] that the jury had a verdict and they’d be ready to deliver it at 2:00 p.m. We were very relieved that they returned a verdict of not guilty to both murder and the less included offense of manslaughter.”

Defense had argued throughout the trial the shooting was done in self-defense, citing a series of disagreements and a physical altercation between the two men leading up to the incident. Crown argued Binder acted purposefully that day.

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Michi says it was a long process leading up to this, but the two-week trial period was relatively short in terms of homicide trials.

“(Binder) was overwhelmed. Very relieved,” Michi says of his client. “He became very emotional in court, as one could imagine.”