Crown points to evidence, prosecution questions ‘sloppy’ investigation in final arguments of 2021 murder trial
Lawyers presented two vastly different theories in the trial of a Manitoba man accused of murdering his neighbour in 2021 during closing arguments on Monday, in their final court appearance before the jurors who will decide the case are sent to deliberate.
Prosecutors have argued Eric Wildman hit Clifford Joseph with his vehicle when he caught Joseph trying to steal from his property in the village of Stead, Man., about 80 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, then took the injured man to another location where he executed him.
But Wildman’s lawyers say he’s been wrongfully accused as part of an “absurd” theory prosecutors have come up with based on a police investigation lawyer Martin Glazer said was defined by tunnel vision.
“Eric Wildman did not kill Clifford Joseph,” Glazer told jurors, as he walked over to put his hands on his client’s shoulders. “Eric Wildman is not a killer.”
Joseph was reported missing in June 2021. When his remains were finally found over a month later, following a lengthy search, he had a broken leg and jaw. But prosecutors say what killed him were three gunshots, including one to the back of the head.
Wildman, 38, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Joseph’s death on or around June 7, 2021. His trial before Court of King’s Bench Justice Richard Saull began last month — the second time he’s stood trial in the case, after his first one ended in mistrial.
Glazer told jurors over roughly two and a half hours Monday there was no evidence Wildman ever even met the man he’s accused of killing. He said the Crown’s theory, that Wildman killed Joseph when the victim tried to steal a trailer winch from his property, doesn’t make any sense.
“Eric Wildman suddenly becomes a cold-blooded murder, over what is maybe a $50 winch? Ask yourselves, who’s going to kill someone” over that, Glazer asked jurors.
“This was a sophisticated, organized, cold-blooded execution…. Does that sound like Eric Wildman, who lives in the country? Is he a cold-blooded executioner?”
Wildman sat expressionless in court next to his lawyers on Monday, occasionally sipping from a small plastic water cup as they addressed the jury.
Court previously heard the day Joseph was reported missing, his girlfriend found a number of his belongings — including a hat, shoes and a headlamp — near tire tracks on Wildman’s property.
Defence highlights questions, prosecution points to timing
But Glazer outlined a number of questions he said remained unanswered after Wildman’s weeks-long trial, including exactly when Joseph was killed and what happened after he left home the night he was last seen.
He also called it “preposterous” for prosecutors to ask the jury to convict Wildman of murder, saying the Crown presented no forensic evidence linking him to the victim, or any evidence that he was there when Joseph was killed.
“The police here did not keep an open mind. This was a botched investigation, a sloppy investigation, a biased investigation by police who jumped to the wrong conclusion,” Glazer said, asking jurors “not to make the same mistake.”
Crown attorney Bryton Moen told jurors the timing in the case was of paramount importance — from how Wildman decided to change the hood on his damaged vehicle shortly after prosecutors say Joseph was hit by a vehicle then killed, to how he left the province when police told him they were going to arrest him for murder.
Moen said it was also relevant that ammunition police found in Wildman’s vehicle was consistent with the kind that had been found in Joseph’s remains.
“The evidence points you to one inescapable conclusion: Eric Wildman is guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of Clifford Joseph,” Moen said, in an address to jurors that lasted just under an hour.
The jury will get their instructions from the judge Wednesday morning before beginning deliberations.
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