By Ian Holmes

Man pleads guilty to 2017 murder at Nanaimo’s Howard Johnson Hotel

Feb 15, 2019 | 11:02 AM

NANAIMO — A man admitted to murdering another man in the lobby of the now-closed Howard Johnson Hotel near downtown Nanaimo.

Brandon Tyler Woody, 32, pleaded guilty Friday to the second degree murder of Andrew McLean in the early morning hours of April 19, 2017.

Woody, a Victoria man, has a three-day sentencing hearing beginning March 25 before a BC Supreme Court judge.

Woody initially pleaded not guilty to first degree murder and his admission to the fatal shooting cancels a previously scheduled trial.

Crown prosecutor Frank Dubenksi said graphic surveillance footage from the hotel captured the shooting, involving multiple shots from a handgun.

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A pre-sentence report will include a Gladue component, which will take into account Woody’s Metis background.

Woody’s sentencing hearing is expected to reference his alleged involvement to the drug culture in Nanaimo and Victoria.

He was arrested about an hour after the shooting following a traffic stop by North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP.

Court records showed Woody was convicted of a 2011 armed robbery in Kelowna.

He remains in custody at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre in Victoria.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes