Yukon jury hears closing arguments in Edward James Penner murder trial
B.C. man charged with 1st-degree murder in connection with 2017 shooting death of Adam Cormack
A jury in Whitehorse heard closing arguments in the trial of Edward James Penner Tuesday.
Penner is charged with first-degree murder in the 2017 shooting death of Adam Cormack, 25, at a gravel pit outside Whitehorse. Penner was 20 at the time.
The Crown spent more than two weeks laying out its case. Prosecutor Tom Lemon summarized that case Tuesday, urging jurors that the evidence "points in only one direction" — that Penner planned to kill Cormack "execution style" and shot Cormack in the head with an AR-15 rifle.
Lemon said Penner sent a Facebook message to friends in B.C. with photos of that gun, as well as loaded magazines.
"It's a stretch to believe that Mr. Penner equipped himself with an AR-15 just to send photos from Whitehorse," Lemon said.
"You don't have loaded magazines just to take pictures of them."
Lemon said Penner and Cormack were both involved in the drug trade, and that Penner came to Whitehorse to investigate a missing handgun. When Penner was told Cormack had sold it, "clearly the formulation of a plan to kill Adam Cormack was taking place," Lemon said.
No blood or DNA on bullet
The Crown acknowledged that it can't prove that a bullet found at the scene killed Cormack. Investigators found no blood or DNA on it. But Lemon said the bullet can be fired from an AR-15 as well as other guns. And he said it closely resembles bullets seen in photos of the magazines Penner shared in Facebook messages.
The defence didn't call any witnesses or bring any evidence during trial. But defence lawyer Andre Oullette argued the Crown's case is made up of "theories, lies, suggestions and rumours" and isn't strong enough to convict Penner.
Oullette said the bullet could have been fired from a handgun, as well as a rifle. And he said the gravel pit is littered with old bullets and shell casings because it's used as a shooting range by Whitehorse residents.
Oullette also said testimony from several Crown witnesses was unreliable because of drug use. He said witnesses who knew Cormack were trying to piece together their own narrative of what happened and that it's easy to pin the blame on an outsider like Penner.
"You're being invited to bypass reason," Oullette said. "All of the evidence here is equivocal and ambiguous."
Justice Scott Brooker will give his final instructions to the jury on Wednesday.