THUNDER BAY – A jury has found Nicholas Necan guilty of murder in the January 2016 beating death of George Gerard, rejecting the defence lawyer’s insistence that Necan was too drunk at the time of the incident to have intent to kill.
Necan was convicted of second-degree murder at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Friday morning, with the jury coming to their verdict less than two hours after resuming deliberations that began the previous afternoon. A conviction of second-degree murder results in an automatic life sentence, while the defence was seeking a guilty verdict on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
David Moonias, Gerard’s nephew, provided a brief statement on behalf of the victim’s family to reporters outside the Thunder Bay Courthouse shortly after the verdict was rendered.
“In a situation like this there are no winners,” Moonias said. “Everybody loses. This is not a joyous occasion for us but we are relieved and grateful that the justice system did not fail us (Friday).”
The 60-year-old Gerard was fatally assaulted during an altercation inside his unit at the Casablanca Apartments on North Simpson Street on the afternoon of Jan. 28, 2016.
First responding police officers testified they entered the apartment to find Necan attacking a prone Gerard with a wooden board, with the use of pepper spray required to stop the assailant.
During the trial, forensic pathologist Dr. Kona Williams had told the court that Gerard’s cause of death was a combination of blunt force injures to the head, face and neck, the resulting aspiration of blood, as well as alcohol intoxication and high blood pressure.
Williams testified Gerard had 90 separate injuries to his head, face and neck areas, including fractures to his left and right cheekbones, multiple breaks to his nose, a fractured jaw and multiple fractures to his left eye socket. Gerard also sustained multiple fractures to his larynx, which Williams said could have affected his ability to breathe.
There were also multiple injuries to Gerard’s arms and hands, including a broken elbow, that Williams characterized as likely defensive injuries.
Forensic scientist Tara Brutzki told the court that Gerard’s blood had been found on Necan’s hands as well as a shirt worn by the defendant at the time of his arrest.
Defence lawyer Neil McCartney during his closing arguments acknowledged to the court that Necan caused Gerard’s death but argued the attack was the result of a “frenzied out of control rampage” largely caused by Necan being significantly intoxicated. Necan had previously testified he had no recollection of the incident and said he has felt like he has been living in a nightmare since.
Crown prosecutor Gordon Fillmore had countered that the beating had been continuing on and off for an hour, speculating that the reason for the extended duration was that the victim was still breathing.
Gerard had been pronounced dead shortly after being taken to hospital.
While Necan is subject to a life sentence, Superior Court Justice John Fregeau is now tasked with determining the period of parole ineligibility, which must be at least 10 years but no more than 25 years.
McCartney defended his assertion to the jury that a manslaughter sentence would have been appropriate.
“The fact as I say that the jury wrestled with that question for hours and spent an overnight on it shows it wasn’t a ridiculous notion,” McCartney said in an interview following the verdict.
“I think a murder that’s getting toward a manslaughter – and I don’t think anybody would disagree that’s kind of what this was – calls for the minimum period of parole ineligibility.”
