Trial begins for man charged with murder in 2018 death in Dawson City, Yukon

A trial begins Tuesday for a man charged with second degree murder in the death of another man in Dawson City, Yukon, in 2018.

The jury for the trial of Kane Morgan was selected Tuesday morning in Dawson. The trial before Yukon Supreme Court chief justice Suzanne Duncan is expected to last nine days.

Morgan was charged in 2021 with killing Kevin Edward McGowan three years earlier.

Duncan said in court on Tuesday that Morgan has admitted to causing McGowan's death by blunt-force trauma, and the Crown must prove intent to kill. Morgan has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

McGowan, 41, died in Dawson's downtown area in the early hours of April 30, 2018. Days after McGowan's death, police ruled it a homicide.

McGowan, who was from B.C., had only been in Dawson City for a matter of weeks when he died, according to people who knew him. He had moved to town to work as a chef over the summer.

Kevin Edward McGowan was from B.C. and had only been in Dawson City for a few weeks when he died. (Submitted by Dianna and Dave McGowan)