Local man pleads guilty to reduced charge in slaying of disabled man

Two men charged with firstdegree murder in the violent slaying of a Milton man pleaded guilty to lesser charges last week. The men both pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, with Mississauga resident John McClatchey, 49, pleading guilty to manslaughter and Halton Hills resident James McDonough, 41, pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Brian Stockton, a 48year-old father and husband who was physically disabled. The guilty pleas were entered February 27 at Superior Court of Justice in Milton before Justice Bruce Durno. Crown Attorney Monica Mackenzie said she didn't have much to say about the proceedings. "There's not a lot I can say because it's (the case) still before the court." The sentencing will be held tomorrow (Thursday) at 11 a.m. in Milton. Stockton's badly burned body was discovered when crews from the Milton Fire Department extinguished a flaming car in June, 2004 behind Traffix transport company on Regional Road 25, just north of Hwy. 401. A short distance away, a pool of blood was found by police in front of McKeown Collision, also on Regional Road 25. Police said at the time the two crime scenes were connected. The two accused were arrested at their homes the next day. Police said the suspects and the victim were acquaintances. Stockton was the father of a teenaged son and daughter. John Rosen, defence lawyer for McDonough, didn't respond at press time to a request for an interview. Rosen is well known in the media after defending serial murderer Paul Bernardo, taking over from Ken Murray in September of 1994. The slaying of Stockton has been the only murder in Milton in the past five years.