The second-degree murder charge against one of the suspects in the death of Robert Topping was withdrawn Monday.
Twenty-one-year-old Christopher Hawk pleaded guilty to one count of robbery Monday morning at the Superior Court of Justice.
Hawk was one of four people arrested after the March 19, 2011 death of 54-year-old Robert Topping.
According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, three men broke into a Minnesota Street home on March 19, 2011 where a woman was house-sitting for her son. The woman called Topping, who she was in a relationship with, and said she heard suspicious activity outside of the house.
The three males then entered the house and one was carrying a knife. One male said they were looking for her son’s jewelry, money and marijuana. A fourth male entered the residence who the woman heard referred to as Chris.
The suspect referred to as Chris was told to hold the woman down on the couch while the other three males entered the bedroom. She then heard Topping’s voice and could hear a struggle ensue. The male called Chris then fled the residence.
Topping told his girlfriend he had been stabbed and walked to the rear deck. He said his lungs were filling up with blood.
Topping was later pronounced dead at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the post-mortem stated that Topping had been stabbed four times in the back. Two wounds reached his lungs.
The cause of death was hypoxia and blood loss from stab wounds.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 29.
Hawk and three other suspects, Sheldon Wabason, Nicholas Webber, and Cody Thompson were all charged with second-degree murder following Topping's death on Minnesota Street on March 19.
Thompson was rushed from the district jail to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on Aug. 11, 2011, and died eight days later.
The charges against him were withdrawn on Aug. 31.
