Joel Clow guilty of 2nd-degree murder
Joel Lawrence Clow has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Traci Lynch.
Justice Nancy Key handed down the decision Friday in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown to a packed courtroom with heightened security.
"In the dark of night, Joel Clow tried to hide Traci Lynch's body," Key told court. That, and other evidence, caused the judge to reject Clow's claim that he was too high on drugs to know what he was doing.
Evidence showed violent struggle
Traci Lynch's body was found in a wheelbarrow on the property of Clow's home in Pleasant Grove in July, 2015.
Autopsy results show she died of a severe blow to the head and by strangulation.
Evidence presented in trial showed signs of a violent struggle outside a home across the road from Clow's residence. The judge said the struggle ended with Clow tearing up Lynch's T-shirt, wrapping it around her neck, and using it to drag the unconscious woman back to his property.
Clow too intoxicated to form intent to kill: defence
Clow's defence lawyers, Joel Pink and Nathan Sutherland, argued during the trial that he was too intoxicated the night of Lynch's death to understand what he was doing — and was not capable of forming intent to kill.
They presented clinical evidence detailing the levels of amphetamines, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in samples of Clow's blood taken by RCMP in the hours after Lynch's death.
They also pointed to the police video of Clow's arrest by RCMP which showed him thrashing and moaning on the ground.
However, in her decision the judge found Clow faked that behaviour to support his claim that he was too high to know what he was doing.
In her closing submissions, Crown prosecutor Cindy Wedge argued Clow's state of mind was clear — as evidenced by him shopping in a convenience store earlier that night, buying groceries, driving his truck and texting back and forth with Lynch.
The Crown prosecutor suggested the injury to Lynch's head was delivered with a heavy plastic table found smashed on the lawn of the home.
Months of heavy drug and alcohol abuse
Lynch and Clow were in a relationship in the months leading up to her death. She lived in a house about a kilometre down the road from Clow.
But testimony at trial showed the relationship had soured, fuelled by months of heavy drug and alcohol abuse.
Testimony from Crown witnesses suggested Lynch was living in fear of Clow, because he'd tried to run her down with his truck, had poured bleach over her clothes, flooded her house, and after she spent a night a friend's house, due to her concerns, found him hiding in her garage upon her return.
When reading her decision, the judge had harsh words for two men who were in the house where Lynch went for help. They testified they were asleep and heard nothing. The judge told court she believes the two men saw what happened and failed to call police.
Parole eligibility to be determined
Second degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. Justice Key will determine the date of parole eligibility, which could range up to 25 years.
Crown and defence will present their sentencing recommendations at a hearing on Oct. 2.
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