Guilty plea coming for Christmas Day murder?
A Surrey man charged in connection with the convenience store killing of 27-year-old Alok Gupta on Christmas Day 2011 is expected to plead guilty.
Court records indicate William Andrew Whiteside, who was charged last July with several offences, including second-degree murder, intends to enter a plea in April in Surrey Provincial Court. It's uncertain which charge(s) he will plead guilty to.
Gupta, a business student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, was covering a shift at Ken's Grocery near 96 Avenue and 117 Street when he was shot in what police believe was a botched robbery.
Police said Gupta was here on a student visa and was not involved in any sort of criminal activity.
The killing was not targeted, said police, and Gupta was "simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Whiteside's next court appearance is scheduled for April 4.
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