THUNDER BAY – Multiple family members feared David Wilson was becoming increasingly dangerous in the weeks and months leading up to the killing of Robert Barbeau.
The defence for Wilson, who is on trial for second-degree murder for the stabbing of Barbeau in the parking lot of their McLaughlin Street apartment complex on June 5, 2014, opened their case Thursday morning by calling the accused murderer’s brother and nephew to the witness stand.
During his opening statement, defence lawyer Neil McCartney made it clear Wilson, who has schizophrenia, is not denying causing the 48-year-old’s death but argued he was not criminally responsible for his actions.
“This case is not a whodunit,” McCartney told the jury. “Everyone agrees Mr. Wilson is responsible for the stabbing death here.”
Instead, he said the jury is to decide whether Wilson’s mental disorder prevented him from understanding the physical consequences of his actions or if he had the ability to judge the reasonable wrongness of the incident.
McCartney said Crown prosecutor Rob Kozak presented a “surprising select few” witnesses during his case over the first three days of the trial, which does not tell the whole story about Wilson’s mental state prior to the stabbing.
The Crown’s case included testimony from Dr. Mark Pearce, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Wilson at the Ontario Shores Mental Health Sciences Centre for two months between February and April 2015, who told the court it’s his opinion the killing was driven by anger and not symptoms of Wilson’s mental illness.
One of the first defence witnesses called was Scott Wilson, the accused’s nephew, who was attacked by his uncle just 11 days prior to the stabbing.
On May 24, 2014 he had just returned from buying groceries and saw his uncle playing guitar near his apartment building and invited him upstairs. His uncle followed him upstairs and insisted on waiting until a female friend left the apartment.
After she left, he entered the apartment and said she was linked to a biker gang and that he needed to “shut his mouth” and not saying anything.
Scott Wilson was then bent over, putting away groceries in the bottom of the refrigerator, when he was struck in the back of the head by a guitar. He tried to get up and was attacked again, this time stabbed with a box cutter.
They briefly wrestled on the floor, with his uncle landing more blows, until his uncle got up and fled the apartment. He ultimately required stitches to the back of the head and his eyelid with doctors saying he nearly lost his right eye.
“The uncle I know would never strike me,” he told the court. “They (needed) to find him, put him in a hospital and get him back on his medication.”
After the attack Scott Wilson called his father, John, who immediately came over to the apartment and called police.
The nephew declined to press charges, instead requesting his uncle be sent to the mental health ward of the hospital and held for a 72-hour evaluation.
John Wilson, who took the stand earlier in the morning, said he called the hospital the next day and learned his brother had been released.
He said he had noticed for a number of months his brother would be progressively acting more erratically and agitated. He alerted other family members to be careful and not let David Wilson inside their homes.
At some point after June 5, 2014 he went to the Thunder Bay Police Service station and urged them to locate his brother and apprehend him, when he was informed he was in custody as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
“I didn’t know what he was capable of doing next,” he said, adding he found out the next day his brother was charged with murder.
Under cross-examination, John Wilson admitted his brother had told him on multiple occasions he “hated” Barbeau, his apartment building neighbour.
He said his brother frequently complained about Barbeau and expressed urges to commit violent acts against him, mentioning “once or twice” he wanted to kill the victim.
The court is expected to hear from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Robert Sheppard either late Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Sheppard assessed Wilson in the summer of 2014 and in his report concluded he should be not be held criminally responsible for his actions.
