A second-degree murder charge has been laid against James Samuel Collins following a stabbing yesterday morning in the Taku Hotel coffee Shop.

Collins who is 30 tomorrow, is charged in the death of Claude Aube, 25 of Whitehorse. Collins appeared before Yukon Supreme Court Justice Harry Maddison this morning and was remanded in custody until June 14 when a bail hearing will take place.

Collins was arrested at 4 p.m. yesterday when he and Dennis Claxton, A Whitehorse lawyer, walked into RCMP headquarters on Fourth Avenue.

Aube was stabbed once in the chest with a kitchen knife early yesterday morning after an argument about the quality of the food at the cafe across the street fro the RCMP station.

Claxton, who is defending Collins, said the man turned up at his office at about 3 p.m.

"I didn't have much of a reaction," Claxton said. "We discussed the matter for a few minutes and walked over to the police station."

Claxton did not want to comment further.

The Star has learned that after the incident, Collins went to a friend's house, saying he was in trouble and the police were probably looking for him.

The friend talked Collins into getting a lawyer and giving himself up, the source, who did not want his name used, said.

Const. Doug Hopaluk, the RCMP officer investigating the case, verified the story, saying police want to talk to Collin's friend.

A small man with thinning, sandy-colored hair, Collins was dwarfed by the three RCMP officers who escorted him down the long hallway of the federal building to court this morning.

Clad in jeans and a denim vest, Collins looked serious and calm as he talked with his lawyer and stood before the judge to hear the charge read.

Witness - "We boogied"

A man who witnessed the killing of Claude Aube in the Taku coffee shop yesterday said at first the incident didn't seem out of the ordinary.

"I thought they were old friends who were just messing around."

The witness who would only be identified as "Bob", called the Star this morning from Homer, Alaska. He said he and several friends were driving from the southern U.S. and had stopped for breakfast at the Taku. "That was the first thing we saw of Whitehorse," he said, adding they decided not to stay around: "We boogied."

By John Crump, Star Reporter