No evidence Vancouver park caretaker’s accused murderer had mental condition: Crown – BC

Prosecutors say there is no evidence a man accused of murdering a popular Vancouver park caretaker suffers from a mental condition.

Prosecutor Colleen Smith made the comments as she delivered the Crown’s closing arguments in the second-degree murder trial of 54-year-old Brent White.

White has pleaded not guilty to killing 77-year-old Justis Daniel, who was found with more than 40 stab wounds in his caretaker home in Tatlow Park on Dec. 10, 2021.

“Crown submits that it has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. White’s prolonged and brutal assault of Justis Daniel was not in self-defence,” Smith told the court. “Mr. White had the requisite intent for murder when he killed Justis Daniel.”

White, who testified in his own defence, claimed that Daniel had suddenly attacked him, biting his neck like a vampire and potentially consuming his blood. He also claimed Daniel threw a knife at his face, and had called him the equivalent of Satan.

He testified responded by pulling a folding knife out of his pocket and defending himself.

“The testimony of Mr. White is unreliable and should be rejected,” Smith told the court.

“There is much evidence to prove that Mr. White had the requisite intent. The number and nature of the injuries, the force that was required to inflict those injuries.”

Daniel was found stabbed 42 times, including 18 times in the face, head and neck. He also had three separate facial fractures and a punctured lung.

A toxicology report later concluded there was no alcohol or drugs in his system.

Smith referred back to Daniel’s son’s testimony that he had never seen his father, a lung-transplant recipient and cancer survivor, violent or aggressive.

Smith further noted that White took Daniel’s keys and phone, covered the body and blood stains in several parts of the home and then locked the door on his way out. He then later disposed of the keys and phone, evidence which linked him to the killing, she said.

On Monday, White’s lawyer Brent Anderson told the court his client had made no effort to cover his tracks. White was arrested three months after the killing, still in possession of a knife and shoes with Daniel’s blood on them.

“There is no rational basis, whatsoever, for Mr. White to lie about his belief at all. I would submit that no sane person would fabricate an account as bizarre as this and expect it to be believed,” Anderson told the court.

“The only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. White genuinely believed that’s exactly what happened.”

White has explicitly opted not to pursue a mental illness defence, however, his lawyer told the court there was compelling evidence that his client had an “impaired mental state at time” of the killing.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Maisonville has not ordered an assessment to determine whether White is not criminally responsible by way of a mental disorder at this time.

Maisonville has reserved her verdict for a later date.

— with files from Rumina Daya

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