Two men accused of killing a Vancouver man and leaving his body in the trunk of a car that was left in New Westminster have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Glen Robert Ahnert, 40, and Russell Bryan Benson, 30, were initially charged with second-degree murder and scheduled to stand trial in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster Monday.
According to court records, Ahnert and Benson entered pleas to the lesser charge late last month.
On April 9, 2009, the body of Patrick "Patty" Leblanc, 67, was found in the trunk of his Cadillac abandoned in a parking lot at Third Street and Royal Avenue in New Westminster.
Police said he'd been killed at a Vancouver warehouse on Victoria Diversion near the Croatian Cultural Centre. Cause of death was not released but an Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesman said Leblanc suffered "a violent death."
Ahnert and Benson were not arrested until more than a year later, in September 2010. Ahnert was arrested in Brandon, Man., while Benson was arrested in the Niagara region of Ontario.
The three men knew each other through business dealings.
Sentencing for Ahnert and Benson is scheduled for Jan. 31.
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