N.S. top court rejects murder appeal in Colton Cook case

Nova Scotia's top court has rejected the appeal of a man convicted for his part in a brutal murder four years ago in the Yarmouth area.

Robert Charles Rogers was convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of Colton Cook in September 2020. Evidence at Rogers's trial showed Cook was shot, stabbed and attacked with a blade. His body was then dumped in a field and his truck burned.

There was no clear motive for the attack and the medical examiner couldn't say with certainty which of Cook's multiple wounds caused his death.

Three men, including Rogers, were accused of attacking Cook the night he was killed. One of the other men, Keith Sisco Jr., was a witness for the Crown at Rogers's trial.

In his appeal, Rogers's lawyer argued that the trial judge had failed to properly instruct the jury on how they should assess Sisco Jr.'s evidence. The lawyer said Sisco Jr. was an "unsavoury" witness and jurors needed more instruction on how much weight to assign his evidence.

The Court of Appeal disagreed.

Rogers's lawyer had also argued that Sisco Jr.'s testimony about Rogers's level of impairment the night Cook was killed should have supported the defence argument that Rogers was incapable of forming the intent to commit murder.

But the Court of Appeal noted that Sisco Jr.'s testimony did not indicate Rogers's level of impairment and, in fact, showed he was functioning quite well that night.

Sisco Jr. "described the appellant engaging in focused and physically laborious work" including dragging Cook's body, putting it in a truck and backing up the truck, Justice David Farrar wrote for the three-member appeal panel.

He said Sisco Jr.'s testimony described how Rogers made plans to get rid of the body and burn the truck, and gave directions for how to do so. He was also described as "sympathizing" by checking in with Sisco Jr. afterwards.

"These acts show the appellant was not so intoxicated as to lose the ability to use his intellectual and motor faculties," the judge added.