Fingerpointing in court: Lawyers in Regina 3-man murder trial play blame game
The lawyers for each of the three Regina men accused in the 2014 death of Shawn Roderick Douglas used their closing arguments to minimize their client's involvement and deflect blame on the others.
In Regina's Court of Queen's Bench on Monday, everyone got their last word in before the jury begins deliberations to determine who killed Douglas.
Douglas, was a pipefitter who went to a house party in August 2014 and ended up dead just north of Regina in bushes off a grid road two days later.
His body was found bruised and zip-tied and he had a hole in the back of his head.
Joshua Wilson, 26, Dennis Thompson, 35, and Peepeetch, 26, were said to have beaten Douglas with hammers and tools after a house party turned into an armed robbery.
The Crown said regardless of who actually dealt the killing blow, the three men charged with first-degree murder are all guilty.
In their closing arguments, each of the three defence lawyers said the opposite:
- Thompson's lawyer, Kathy Hodgson-Smith, said the Native Syndicate gang, directed by co-accused and gang member Josh Wilson, made up a story implicating her client.
- Wilson's lawyer, Kevin Hill, said Douglas was killed by Johnathon Peepeetch.
- Peepeetch's lawyer, Lori Johnstone-Clark, said her client, a former member of Native Syndicate, is being set up.
Accused says Crown prosecutors lied
One of the men charged in Douglas's murder stood and accused Crown prosecutors of lying during the closing arguments of the case.
Johnathon Peepeetch asked if the Crown is allowed to lie when submitting evidence to the jury, such as witness testimony indicating Peepeetch delivered the killing blow to Douglas.
In reply, the Crown said who struck the final blow is irrelevant, because they are all equally guilty.
"Everyone in that bush knew Mr. Douglas was going to die," said prosecutor James Fitz-Gerald, arguing that any of them could've stopped it.
Peepeetch was the driving force, lawyer says
Hill, who is representing Wilson, said there is no evidence his client caused any injury to Douglas, let alone the fatal blow.
"Johnathon Peepeetch was the driving force of the night's events," Hill told the court.
Witness testimony indicated Wilson had stabbed Douglas immediately after he was hit and allegedly killed by the sledgehammer blow.
Aiden Anaquod named Wilson as the person who stopped Douglas from fleeing a house on the 1600 block of Toronto Street, and took him back into the home at knife-point, where he was assaulted and robbed.
Anaquod was there the night Douglas was killed and has also been charged in connection with the death, though he is not yet on trial.
Native Syndicate accused of playing the system
Johnstone-Clark says her client, Peepeetch, was made "the scapegoat" in a murder that was orchestrated by Native Syndicate.
In her argument, Johnstone-Clark called the Crown's witnesses into question, saying that believing the Crown means believing stories of Native Syndicate "strikers." She said that Peepeetch is being blamed for the murder because he left the gang.
She pointed the finger at one of the youth accused who cannot be named, saying that person struck Douglas fatally with the sledgehammer.
"Don't let the Native Syndicate use you for its retribution." Johnstone-Clark finished.
Representing Thompson, Hodgson-Smith also blamed the gang for Douglas's death.
"Native Syndicate sent its soldiers to spin a lie," said Hodgson-Smith, referring to the young gang members who testified.
"This is a story of how gangs operate when they get caught," she said. "Dennis Thompson is sitting in that box because the gang put him there."
Although some testimony indicated Thompson was the mastermind behind the murder, his lawyer asked the jury how he could be the leader of gang members when he's even not in the gang.
She called the killing a "team effort" and said Thompson wasn't part of that team.
In closing, Hodgson-Smith said the Native Syndicate made a mockery of the courtroom and asked the jury to find her client not guilty.
Midway, through the trial on Monday, one member of the jury was excused from the trial with no reason given, leaving 12 in the courtroom.
The remaining jurors are expected to begin deliberating on Tuesday.
