Illegal drug trade and addiction fuelled fatal shooting, jurors told

Winnipeg's illegal prescription drug trade provided the backdrop for a shooting that claimed the life of 54-year-old Ralph Edward Boehnlein, a jury heard Monday.

Boehnlein was shot dead in his Inkster Boulevard duplex, Feb. 15, 2016.

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Matthew Wayne Lee Valentine, 25, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, identity fraud and failing to comply with a recognizance.

Boehnlein and his live-in partner at the time "were living a lifestyle with which most of us are unfamiliar," Crown attorney Ashleigh Smith said in an opening address to jurors.

Valentine and a woman known to Boehnlein met at Boehnlein's home to buy prescription morphine tablets when Valentine shot him once in the chest, Crown attorney Ashleigh Smith alleged.

"This is a case about what happens when addiction creates a need, a need that two people would set out to fulfil,a need we say led to murder," Smith said.

This is a case about what happens when addiction creates a need, a need that two people would set out to fulfil, a need we say led to murder.- Crown attorney Ashleigh Smith

Police arrested Valentine a short time later at the home of his partner's former in-laws.

Boehnlein's live-in partner and Valentine's companion are both set to testify for the Crown.

"They may come from different backgrounds than you or I and lead different lifestyles," Smith said. "It may be difficult for them to talk about what they witnessed because of the nature of what they saw or becuase of the nature of their relationship" with Boehnlein and Valentine.

The trial is set for two weeks.