A jury has found the two individuals arrested in a 2022 stabbing death on Nanaimo's waterfront guilty as charged.
After Fred Parsons, 29, was killed at Maffeo Sutton Park on Sept. 5, 2022, Mark Jayden Harrison and Aiden Matthew Bell were arrested and each charged with one count of manslaughter. Their B.C. Supreme Court trial in Nanaimo began on July 22 in front of justice Robin Baird and a 12-person jury.
The judge provided instructions to the jury on Tuesday, Aug. 6, and a decision was reached that evening. Nick Barber and Kaitlyn Tourangeau were co-Crown counsel. Bobby Movassaghi and Kendra Waugh represented Harrison, while Gloria Ng, Stephanie Head and Austin Nix were Bell's counsel.
The judge told the jury that Canadian law allows two perpetrators to both be guilty of striking a fatal blow in the case of a joint unlawful assault, something the jury likely took into consideration, Movassaghi told the News Bulletin after the verdict. He said he respects the verdict and the process.
"I would say Mr. Harrison had zero intention of harming Mr. Parsons, and to the extent it happened, given that the jury found that following the bear spray, he was stabbed almost simultaneously, they found they were co-principals and therefore responsible," said Movassaghi.
He said it is too early to discuss whether an appeal will be made for his client, with sentencing still to come.
"We're not there right now…" he said. "We have 30 days following his sentencing to decide if there's a route to appeal and we'll consider that down the road."
During trial, evidence was presented suggesting that Harrison, Bell and another person, whose name is protected under a publication ban, had a confrontation with Parsons, friend Eltjo Schaeffer and another person whose identity is also protected. Schaeffer was bear-sprayed and Parsons suffered a fatal injury in the altercation.
The judge summarized the cases of the three parties earlier in the day Aug. 6, and stressed that Harrison and Bell were innocent until proven guilty. Deliberations are confidential, Movassaghi said.
"We're not meant to know what happened, no one is meant to know what happens," he said.
It is Crown counsel's submission, the judge said, that Harrison was part of a group harassing a security guard at a downtown Nanaimo parkade prior to the incident and subsequently, the two and the other person were captured on video surveillance, walking towards Maffeo Sutton Park – Harrison's legal representatives conceded that he was one of those accosting the security guard, the judge noted.
An RCMP officer dispatched to the parkade incident had gone to Maffeo Sutton to search for suspects, at the same time the three were running away from the park back to the parkade, based on video, and Crown submits that the stabbing incident must have occurred moments before the officer arrived, as Schaeffer was suffering from bear spray, Parsons was clinging to life, with the unnamed witness attempting first aid.
Crown asserts for these reasons, descriptions of the suspects were not accurate.
Harrison is alleged to have told another group of young people at the parkade that they had stabbed somebody. Crown also pointed out that Harrison and Bell were the only two to run when police arrived at the parkade. Bell was arrested near the parkade approximately 15 minutes after the stabbing, according to Crown, and his jacket had Parsons's blood on it, though he also had a butterfly knife which didn't have blood on it.
Crown stated Harrison was seen fleeing and tossing a black bag into the water, which was subsequently retrieved and found to have bear spray and his ID. It doesn't matter who used the knife and the bear spray as the two were acting in concert in the assault that led to Parsons' death, according to Crown.
Bell’s defence argued that none of the descriptions given by witnesses matched their client’s appearance or clothing, and even if details matching Bell's description had been given, no witnesses said that person did anything to Parsons physically. Blood on Bell’s jacket merely suggested that he was present when Parsons was assaulted, and while he had numerous places to dispose of his knife and jacket along the waterfront, he didn’t, defence noted.
Harrison’s counsel argued that Crown failed to prove that their client was present at the site of the attack. While there was video footage of Harrison walking in the direction of the park, there was no footage from the playground area. Crown had submitted, during trial, an intercepted phone call of Harrison discussing the matter, but the defence argued that it was merely a situation where he was reviewing the allegations, as opposed to admission of guilt.
In police photo arrays from police, none of the witnesses picked Harrison's photo, his legal team asserted.
The judge informed the jury that the person who had been at the park with Bell and Harrison had been subpoenaed to testify for the Crown, but had failed to show and part of an unsworn statement to police was allowed to be entered as evidence. There was no opportunity for defence to cross-examine, as a result, and the jury had to decide if it was valid or invalid evidence, the judge said.
The next court date will be Monday, Aug. 19, when a date for sentencing is expected to be established.
