No evidence Vancouver park caretaker’s accused murderer had mental condition: Crown

Prosecutors accidental determination is nary grounds a antheral accused of murdering a fashionable Vancouver parkland caretaker suffers from a intelligence condition.

Prosecutor Colleen Smith made the comments arsenic she delivered the Crown’s closing arguments successful the second-degree execution proceedings of 54-year-old Brent White.

White has pleaded not blameworthy to sidesplitting 77-year-old Justis Daniel, who was recovered with much than 40 stab wounds successful his caretaker location successful Tatlow Park connected Dec. 10, 2021.

“Crown submits that it has proven beyond a tenable uncertainty that Mr. White’s prolonged and brutal battle of Justis Daniel was not successful self-defence,” Smith told the court. “Mr. White had the requisite intent for execution erstwhile helium killed Justis Daniel.”

White, who testified successful his ain defence, claimed that Daniel had abruptly attacked him, biting his cervix similar a vampire and perchance consuming his blood. He besides claimed Daniel threw a weapon astatine his face, and had called him the equivalent of Satan.

He testified responded by pulling a folding weapon retired of his pouch and defending himself.

“The grounds of Mr. White is unreliable and should beryllium rejected,” Smith told the court.

“There is overmuch grounds to beryllium that Mr. White had the requisite intent. The fig and quality of the injuries, the unit that was required to inflict those injuries.”

Daniel was recovered stabbed 42 times, including 18 times successful the face, caput and neck. He besides had 3 abstracted facial fractures and a punctured lung.

A toxicology study aboriginal concluded determination was nary intoxicant oregon drugs successful his system.

Smith referred backmost to Daniel’s son’s grounds that helium had ne'er seen his father, a lung-transplant recipient and crab survivor, convulsive oregon aggressive.

Smith further noted that White took Daniel’s keys and phone, covered the assemblage and humor stains successful respective parts of the location and past locked the doorway connected his mode out. He past aboriginal disposed of the keys and phone, grounds which linked him to the killing, she said.

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On Monday, White’s lawyer Brent Anderson told the tribunal his lawsuit had made nary effort to screen his tracks. White was arrested 3 months aft the killing, inactive successful possession of a weapon and shoes with Daniel’s humor connected them.

“There is nary rational basis, whatsoever, for Mr. White to prevarication astir his content astatine all. I would taxable that nary sane idiosyncratic would fabricate an relationship arsenic bizarre arsenic this and expect it to beryllium believed,” Anderson told the court.

“The lone tenable decision is that Mr. White genuinely believed that’s precisely what happened.”

White has explicitly opted not to prosecute a intelligence unwellness defence, however, his lawyer told the tribunal determination was compelling grounds that his lawsuit had an “impaired intelligence authorities astatine time” of the killing.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Maisonville has not ordered an appraisal to find whether White is not criminally liable by mode of a intelligence upset astatine this time.

Maisonville has reserved her verdict for a aboriginal date.

— with files from Rumina Daya