Ex-NHLer Stan Jonathan charged in man's death By QMI Agency

Ex-NHLer Stan Jonathan has been charged with criminal negligence causing death. (QMI Agency)

Former NHLer Stan Jonathan has been charged with criminal negligence causing death after a 29-year-old Hamilton man was killed while hunting on the Six Nations Reserve Sunday morning.

Jonathan, 57, a Six Nations band member who lives in Ohsweken, Ont., was in bail court Wednesday.

A publication ban was granted on all evidence presented at the bail hearing.

Crown attorney Bob Kindon said Jonathan, who was arrested Wednesday, was released on bail and will return to court Dec. 14.

Police said Peter Kosid, who was bow-hunting with permission on an acquaintance's land, was shot in the back by a bullet fired from about 375 metres away. Jonathan was hunting deer and was not with, or known to, Kosid, a father and avid outdoorsman.

Six Nations police spokesman Derrick Anderson said he couldn't comment on the case.

"That will be before the courts," he said. "I don't know all the circumstances but we follow the provincial guidelines."

According to a report in the Hamilton Spectator, Kosid's fiance, Sabina Marrone, the mother of Kosid's eight-month-old child, said the shooter had taken "a careless shot" and "deserves to spend time in jail." Marrone also said she had been told the shooter was extremely remorseful.

An early discovery by Don Cherry, Jonathan was drafted by Boston in 1975 and played nearly seven seasons for the Bruins before finishing his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had 91 goals and 110 assists in 411 career NHL games.