Surrey senior who shot and killed roommate over rent dispute loses sentence appeal

A Surrey senior has lost his appeal of a seven-year jail term that was handed to him last year following the shooting death of the man’s roommate.

According to B.C. Court of Appeal records, 77-year-old George Murray Bragg and his adult son were living with roommate Richard Wayne Duncan in a south Surrey home for seven months before the Sept. 5, 2019, shooting.

Duncan “displayed an unpredictable and hair-trigger temper” and frequently threatened and abused Bragg and his son, including punching holes in the walls and causing other property damage.

Court heard that “matters came to a head” over a rent dispute on the evening of Sept. 5, with Duncan threatening to “inflict substantial physical harm on both of the Braggs” at midnight.

Duncan walked past the two men’s bedrooms a number of times, letting them know he would be making good on his threat to harm them.