The B.C. man accused of murdering a father at a downtown Vancouver Starbucks is pleading not guilty and proceeding to trial.
Inderdeep Singh Gosal is charged with second-degree murder in the March 26, 2023 death of Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37.
On March 22, Gosal appeared before Vancouver Provincial Court Judge James Sutherland with Crown prosecution and defence lawyers for a pre-trial conference.
The case now proceeds to a preliminary hearing on April 22. Such hearings are held to determine if enough evidence exists to proceed to trial. Gosal is expected to be in person for the inquiry.
Trials are held when a person pleads not guilty to a charge. People are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Schmidt’s death was witnessed by dozens of people. A video of it went viral online.
Around 5:40 p.m. on March 26, 2023, two men were involved in an altercation outside the Starbucks at West Pender and Granville streets when one of the men was stabbed, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Schmidt had apparently asked the attacker not to vape near his daughter.
A bystander immediately flagged a police officer, who was able to arrest a suspect at the scene.
More officers arrived and provided first aid to the victim, but he later died in hospital.
Investigators had been trying to determine a motive for the stabbing,; they previously said they did not believe the victim and suspect knew each other.
The death was the city's sixth homicide of 2023.
