ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Five years after he was acquitted of a murder charge for the shooting death of Nick Winsor, Lyndon Butler is back before the court on charges related to a handgun.
Butler, 29, was arrested in Conception Bay South around 9:30 p.m. last Friday during an annual police initiative called Operation Impact. Held every year during the Thanksgiving long weekend, the operation includes a series of road checkpoints in an effort to crack down on impaired or aggressive drivers and those with open liquor or illegal drugs, among others.
Butler was arrested after he was allegedly found with a handgun in a vehicle and has been charged with eight firearm-related offences, including possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a restricted weapon with readily accessible ammunition and possessing a weapon while prohibited from doing so.
Butler was given a 10-year firearms ban a number of years ago, after he was convicted of weapons and drug charges.
He was later charged alongside Philip Pynn with second-degree murder for the shooting death of 20-year-old Nick Winsor in July 2011. It was alleged that Butler, Pynn and Winsor had gone to the Portugal Cove Road home of another man with the intent to rob him of a necklace and pendant. During a confrontation in the man’s garage, Winsor was shot. He died of a single gunshot wound to the neck.
After a six-week jury trial in 2014, Pynn was convicted of manslaughter, and Butler was found not guilty. His lawyer at that time, Jeff Brace, told reporters Butler was a “changed young man” who hoped to go to law school and had already started studying for the LSAT.
Butler is currently represented by defence lawyer Jerome Kennedy. During an appearance in provincial court in St. John’s Tuesday morning, Butler’s bail hearing was postponed until later in the week.
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
