A jury will soon determine the outcome of a murder trial that dates back to December 2020 in Tofino.
Luke Priddle, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Mathew Phillips, 47. Priddle is also charged with robbery and theft of Phillips' motor vehicle.
After two weeks of witness testimony, Crown counsel and the defence had a chance to make their closing arguments to the BC Supreme Court jury on Monday, April 7 in Port Alberni.
Defence lawyer Dale Marshall argues that Priddle was “scared for his life” and “grossly intoxicated” by cocaine use, so he was not able to form the intent to murder when he stabbed Phillips in the neck on Dec. 28, 2020, severing his carotid artery and jugular vein.
The two had met up for sex at Phillips' home in the early hours of the morning and then got into an argument over some cocaine that Priddle had not fully paid for. This altercation turned violent as Phillips tried to prevent Priddle from leaving, said Marshall.
Marshall pointed out that in the hours before Phillips’ death, phone logs show that Priddle was messaging former sexual partners and people on various dating apps in an attempt to find “companionship” for the night.
“These were not the actions of a young man looking for a violent encounter,” he said.
However, Crown prosecutor Lindsay Pearce argued that some of Priddle’s testimony didn’t match up with the physical evidence at the scene and expressed doubt that Priddle was in a “fight for his life.”
At the time of the altercation, Priddle was the taller, heavier and younger of the two men and, by his own admission, was able to disarm Phillips. She pointed to the fact that Priddle was relatively “unscathed” in comparison to Phillips after the fight.
Pearce also drew attention to the number and severity of injuries to Phillips’ body. He had received a total of 75 knife wounds, including 67 stab wounds, many of which involved “a significant degree of force,” said Pearce. She called the degree of violence “wholly disproportional” to any perceived threat.
Phillips’ autopsy found that one of the stab wounds to the head had been delivered with so much force that a broken knife tip was found embedded in the skull.
“This was not the result of a knife just flailing around,” Pearce told the jury on Monday, adding that these injuries required “sustained effort and focus.”
Although Pearce agreed that Priddle was under the influence of cocaine at the time of Phillips’ death, she argued that it was “not enough to render him so intoxicated that he could not form intent.” She pointed to Priddle’s actions after the moment of death as evidence. Priddle stepped over the body to start snorting cocaine in the kitchen. He also searched the apartment for the keys to Phillips’ Honda CR-V, and searched Phillips’ body for the keys.
By his own admission, Priddle at some point turned on all the burners on the apartment’s stove, and crime scene photos taken on Dec. 30 show the remnants of Christmas decorations melted on top of the stove. Pearce argues that Priddle’s intention had been to destroy evidence of his crime.
What Priddle didn’t do after Phillips’ death was also intentional, Pearce argued. He didn’t call 911 or go to the hospital to tend to his own wounds. Instead, he returned “to life as usual,” driving around Tofino in Phillips' car and hanging out with his friends at his RV, until he was arrested in Nanaimo on Dec. 30.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday, April 8.
