A Collingwood man has been ordered to stand trial for manslaughter in an incident that left two men dead.
Cameron Gardiner, 59, was originally charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the Jan. 22, 2019 shooting at a his Collingwood home on Matthew Way that left Dean Copkov, 52, and Donovan Bass, 42, both of Wasaga Beach, dead.
In delivering her half-hour long decision in the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie following a preliminary hearing, Justice Stacey Nicols found that the Crown did not present evidence required for second-degree murder.
But she did determine a trial on manslaughter charges was warranted for Gardiner.
A publication ban prevents the reporting of details and judgment of the preliminary hearing.
Shortly after the Jan. 22, 2019 event, police said there had been an "altercation" at Gardiner’s Collingwood home which resulted in the deaths of two people and that a third had fled the scene.
At the time, witnesses said they heard three loud bangs, believed to be gunshots, as well as the sound of shattering glass and screams at around 1:30 a.m. that morning.
Gardiner is now scheduled to appear before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Jan. 5 for a judicial pretrial.
