THUNDER BAY – Justin Coaster walked out of the Thunder Bay Courthouse, surrounded by family, after being acquitted of murder on Wednesday.
Coaster, 34, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and criminal negligence causing bodily harm in January of this year in relation to the death of 37-year-old Charlie Finlayson.
Thunder Bay police reported to a weapons call on July 29, 2022 in the 800 block of McMillan Street where Finlayson, 37, was found deceased, lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head.
The bullet also grazed the top of another individual’s head before ricocheting off the wall and landing on the floor.
Coaster was arrested on Aug. 11, 2022.
Justice Bruce Fitzpatrick found Coaster not guilty on both counts on Wednesday, finding the testimony of a witness who put the gun in Coaster’s hand to not be credible and that there was an “air of reality” to the defence’s alternate suspect argument.
The judge said there is no question that Finlayson died of a gunshot wound and that he was shot at close range with a handgun. However, the handgun used was never found and police could not identify the exact type of handgun that was used.
During the trial held earlier this year, Finlayson’s girlfriend testified that a different person — not Coaster — confessed to her that he was the one who killed Finlayson, and that that he “had to do it” because Finlayson had hurt a member of his family.
The daughter of the man who allegedly confessed also testified during the trial. She said several people were in the residence of the McMillan Street home when Finlayson arrived and apologized to her for a previous argument that had turned physical.
The witness said everyone was laughing prior to a gun being fired and that she didn’t see who pulled the trigger, but within a minute of the shot being fired, she saw a man she knew as Justin in the kitchen with a gun in his hand.
The witness then said she quietly left the home on her own with the hope no one would see her leave.
Justice Fitzpatrick pointed to video surveillance evidence from outside of the MacMillan Street home that showed no one leave the residence until three individuals left together – two males and a female, which Fitzpatrick concluded to be the witness.
This contradicts her evidence of leaving on her own so no one would notice, said the judge, adding she had motive to fabricate her evidence because the alternate suspect in this case was her father.
The judge also said how the witness did not notify the police of Finlayson’s death, but that “she waited two and a half years to tell police” what she says happened that day.
“She has a large interest in the outcome of this trial,” said Fitzpatrick.
The judge also said he found the testimony of the other witness who said the alternate suspect had confessed to her to be more credible as she was clear and consistent and relayed to police what she knew shortly after the events occurred.
The alternate suspect defence and the one witness’s credibility issue raises reasonable doubt, said Fitzpatrick.
After the judge made his ruling, Coaster was released from custody and embraced by his family.
