A trial has begun for a Prince George man accused of manslaughter.
Robert Oliver Nelson faces the charge in relation to the death of Darren Lee Paterson who died in on July 14, 2009 from injuries allegedly suffered in a severe beating.
Police said at the time that Paterson told ambulance personnel he was assaulted earlier in the day somewhere in the downtown core of Prince George but would not provide any further information. He later died in Prince George Regional Hospital.
Nelson was arrested a bit more than a month later.
During testimony Tuesday, the court heard that the day after he died investigators searched Paterson's home, a bachelor suite in Pioneer Apartments at the corner of Fourth and Winnipeg, where they found small amounts of blood around the apartment including on a towel in a sink where a Ziploc baggy full of water was found suggesting it was full of melted ice.
Investigators also found different types of drug paraphernalia including spoons with a white substance on them, what appeared to be capsules of morphine and some marijuana at the site, the court was told.
Stocky, with a pocked marked face, a flat nose and a close shaved head, Nelson was impassive as he sat through testimony Tuesday morning. The trial is being heard by judge alone alone in Supreme Court at the Prince George courthouse.
