EDMONTON — Karanpal Singh Bhangu and Ricky Cenabre met the same fate minutes apart while working alone on a night shift at two different Mac's convenience stores in south Edmonton.
Each clerk was robbed, beaten and shot dead.
A jury heard Tuesday that three people wearing bandanas over their faces and similar clothes walked into both stores on Dec. 18, 2015. In both robberies, one suspect was armed with a handgun and another had a machete.
The Crown said evidence shows that, at some point, they changed who was holding the gun.
"The person who shot Mr. Cenabre is not the person who shot Mr. Bhangu," prosecutor John Watson told court in his opening statement. "But both of the people involved are part of the group of three."
Laylin Delorme, 27, is on trial after pleading not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of robbery with a prohibited restricted firearm.
Two co-accused have yet to stand trial.
Watson didn't explain what role Delorme is alleged to have played in the killings. He said the month-long trial will hear from about 35 witnesses, including DNA and firearms experts.
One police photo entered as evidence shows a trail of blood leading through one of the stores. In another picture, two feet are sticking out from behind a counter next to an M&M's candy display.
Bhangu, 35, had recently emigrated from India. Cenabre, 41, had come to Canada five years earlier from the Philippines.
Watson said the two stores were equipped with video surveillance cameras which captured one of the robbers wearing a distinctive jacket.
A short time after the shootings, police spotted a man wearing the same jacket sitting in a car in the Collingwood neighbourhood. The vehicle sped off and officers pursued the vehicle until it crashed near Whitemud Drive.
Officers arrested three people in the vehicle — two men and a 13-year-old boy. Watson said police searched the car and found a gun, machete, bandanas and duffel bags filled with cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets.
