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Murder accused awaits decision

Defence proffers argument of self defence

RICHARD MACKENZIE richard.mackenzie@saltwire.com

TRURO – Kevin Sylliboy was out for revenge when he killed James Blair in Millbrook on Easter morning 2018, Crown attorney Patrick Young said, during final submissions in Sylliboy’s second-degree murder trial.

“The accused decided James Blair was responsible for sexually assaulting his mother,” Young said, while making his submissions in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Truro.

“He wanted revenge, he was prepared to act on it,” he said. “When Dawn Sylliboy told the accused that Jamie Blair had raped her, she signed his death warrant.”

Defence attorney Zebedee Brown, however, argued the Crown witnesses had provided inconsistent evidence and that Justice Jeffery Hunt should find that Sylliboy had acted in self defence and be acquitted. Or, in a worst-case scenario, that he be found guilty of manslaughter and not second-degree murder.

The day and a half of submissions on Oct. 12 and 13 followed a trial that began on Sept. 13, during which the court heard from 33 Crown witnesses. The defence did not call any witnesses.

Court heard that Blair, who was 46, died from a single gunshot wound while standing on the front patio of 905 Willow Street, the residence of mutual friends Mallory Mitchell and Mitchell O’toole.

During Tuesday’s full-day hearing, Sylliboy, 28, primarily kept his head down and appeared tired and detached. On Wednesday, he appeared more alert and attentive to his lawyer’s presentation.

Sylliboy’s accusations, which prompted the initial argument, took place at a residence on Brooks Lane. Young said Blair immediately denied the accusation of rape and referred to witness testimony that Blair and Sylliboy ended up pushing each other before departing separately with female friends.

Young said Sylliboy left in a car belonging to his friend Grace Scott, who was initially charged as an accessory after the fact in the case before eventually becoming a Crown witness and being granted immunity.

“He came back towards Grace’s car and said he would handle it. That was the moment he formed the intent to kill James Blair,” Young said.

But he said the prospect of immunity did not prompt Scott’s cooperation.

“She decided within 24 hours of her arrest she was going to do the right thing because, as she said, somebody had lost their life. Her cooperation was the least she could do. The charge and conditions of the immunity agreement required her to tell the truth and that is what she did.”

Young said Grace was sober, focused on survival following the shooting and that her testimony corroborates the testimony of other witnesses and vice versa.

“She literally had a frontrow seat,” he said. “Crossexamined over the course of several hours, her story remained the same, not impeached (in other words, credible). She presented as an honest witness who did her best to remember what happened when the victim was killed, notwithstanding the trauma she experienced that night.”

Young said Scott and Sylliboy left the scene where the initial argument took place and drove to his aunt’s residence where he had been staying for a short period. He said Sylliboy went into the house and came out with a duffle bag containing an SKS semi-automatic rifle.

“He placed the gun between his legs,” Young said, in reference to Scott’s testimony, with Sylliboy then telling her where and how to drive.

“He was hunting,” Young said.

It was never made clear how Sylliboy knew that Blair had gone to 905 Willow Street, where the shooting took place, although the court heard that the accused was on his cell phone while Scott was driving.

After the pair arrived at that residence, Brown said Blair then confronted Sylliboy by brandishing a knife, a factor upon which the selfdefence argument was based.

“James Blair armed himself with a 10 to 12-inch steak knife for the express purpose of confronting Sylliboy and that is the direct evidence of Mallory Mitchell,” Brown said, adding Sylliboy wasn’t standing outside the home with the gun at ready.

Brown also argued that Sylliboy aimed the gun at Blair’s arm as a way to disarm the knife threat, while also suggesting the rifle, which had an illegal magazine attached, may have fired accidently.

And he suggested that Blair was fatally wounded because he turned his body as the shot was fired, causing the bullet to damage vital organs, instead of just hitting him in the arm.

During Young’s submissions the Crown attorney said Scott’s testimony clearly included an admission of guilt by Sylliboy as he jumped back in her car after Blair was shot.

“The accused told her, ‘I f----g killed him, I murdered a man. I shot him. I’m going to get in a shootout with the police,’” Young read from her written statement.

“It comes down to this; how does the witnesses’ evidence stack up when you compare it to the evidence you do accept? Is it consistent with that evidence, with human nature, life experience, and common sense?” he said.

Brown, however, discounted the alleged confession and suggested the Crown’s witness testimony was “muddled up, confused and contradictory.”

“Easy for her to put words in his mouth,” Brown countered, while raising the issue of witness credibility.

He also questioned the Crown’s perspective as to Sylliboy’s motives for shooting Blair and said close examination of the evidence shows the accusation of rape had little impact on the accused.

“It’s not known about his relationship with his mother and how he would receive the news,” Brown said, during the first day of submissions. “Would it trigger those protective, angry feelings or news he would receive and say: ‘What else is new?’

“Or: ‘Mom, you’re a pathological liar, you’ve been lying to me my whole life, why should I believe this.’

“We don’t even know if he had a relationship with his mother,” Brown said.

“The odds and ends of circumstantial evidence pointing to something that is merely consistent in and of itself really doesn’t get us very far,” Brown said. “The act of killing, itself, can’t provide intent.”

The case is scheduled to resume on Jan. 17 when Justice Hunt is expected to render his decision.

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2021-10-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

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