Jury begins deliberation in trial for 3 men accused of killing Shawn Douglas
Jurors in the trial of three men charged with first-degree murder in the death of Shawn Roderick Douglas are now deliberating.
For five weeks, the court has heard testimony about how Douglas, a 54-year-old pipe fitter from the village of Pense, attended a booze- and cocaine-fuelled house party on the 1600 block of Toronto St. on Aug. 7, 2014, before being assaulted and robbed.
The Crown's case is that Joshua Wilson, 26, Dennis Thompson, 35, and Johnathon Peepeetch, 26, robbed Douglas, beat him with hammers and other tools and left him to die northeast of the city.
His body was found zip-tied, beaten, bruised and with a large hole on the back of his head
It was determined Douglas died of blunt force trauma consistent with a blow from a sledgehammer.
On Tuesday morning and afternoon, Queen's Bench Justice Janet McMurtry spent six hours reading her charge to the jury.
The jury's job
During her charge, McMurtry laid out the definition of first-degree murder and the conditions the jury must keep in mind when determining their verdict.
The jury must determine if:
- Any of the three accused committed an unlawful act (assaulting Shawn Douglas).
- The accused's unlawful act caused the death of Shawn Douglas.
- They had any intent to murder him.
- The accused unlawfully confined Douglas.
- The confinement and killing of Douglas where part of the same series of events.
If the jury finds that all of these conditions have been met, then the verdict will be that any one of the accused are guilty of first-degree murder.
During the trial, the Crown argued that it does not matter who actually dealt the blow which killed Douglas, as those involved are equally guilty.
If they cannot prove these conditions beyond a reasonable doubt, then there are three other options. The jury can find any of the accused not guilty, guilty of manslaughter or guilty of second-degree murder.
Shortly after being sequestered, the jury brought forward a question. The group of 12 asked if they could be supplied with the charge that was read out by McMurty as well as the specific conditions outlining what was required for a first-degree murder conviction and what warranted manslaughter and second-degree murder instead.
The Crown was opposed to providing the full charge to the jury, and eventually a much-shorter "decision tree" was drafted outlining the what constitutes first-degree murder and the grounds for other verdicts.
Cellphone video that was shown in court which allegedly shows Douglas in the trunk of car was also released Tuesday, following the start of the jury's deliberation.
