They have evidence that WM was holding a business meeting and sending a business email within hours of his death. Therefore he was still actively involved in MillardAir. He also spent a number of hours on the phone talking to his new love interest and making plans for her upcoming birthday. He had already booked the day off, purchased a gift for her and seemed excited for her to receive it.
While he did like to drink in the evenings, perhaps more than he should have, he had a scare when his back went out thinking it was his liver and stopped drinking while he was laid up and taking prescription painkillers. He must have been relieved to find out it was a skeletal or muscular issue and not a problem with his organs. Seems that other than his bad back, he was pretty healthy for an overweight man of his age. Not sure why the Crown didn't try to enter his medical records...or did they? Also seems like once his back was feeling better, he went back to his nighttime drinking habit and stopped taking the prescription painkillers, at least in the evening before bed. It appears there was only alcohol in his system at the time of his death.
He gave away old guns, that he had accumulated for a specific purpose in his younger years, during a police sponsored amnesty program 2 years prior because he no longer felt he needed them or wanted them in his home. Seems like he was devoted to his cats, even building them an outdoor enclosure outside his bedroom, and didn't consider rehoming them if he was depressed and knew he might not be around much longer to take care of them.
All of this evidence does not make me believe that this man was depressed and suicidal and made a snap decision, after firing off an email and saying goodnight to his girlfriend, to get into bed, pull up the covers, get comfortable on his side with his hand tucked under his chin and then shoot himself in the eye with an illegal gun that he would have had to have found amongst his son's possessions, in the room where 2 lululemon bags were seen on the floor 6 months later. Not a place where WM would shop. And the evidence that DM sent LE to the basement of the house looking for a gun in a bag. And he asked if it was a revolver. Sounds like he had a story all prepared for that gun at the time but was never asked. So he didn't offer up any explanation for its presence in the home. Well other than to tell LE that WM had guns, which he no longer did.
They also have evidence that the gun was purchased illegally by his son 4 months prior. The same son who made a random, one time decision to spend the night on the floor of his drug dealer friend's bedroom. During this slumber party, he left for a number of hours claiming he had a date. He was carrying two phones with him and was driving his SUV when he arrived at the friend's house. He left one of the phones, his credit card for a pizza purchase and the SUV at his friend's house while the other phone called two separate cab companies to take him to the vicinity of the home where his father was found deceased, during the time frame that his father died, and then back to the home of his friend.
Add in the fact that when no one discovered his Dad's dead body and he had to go home to do so, he called his mother to come over and help him deal with responding emergency personnel after she finally called 911 over an hour after he was "found". And that as the sole heir, who just found out about his father spending the previous weekend "romantically" with his new love interest, he stood to gain everything and actively suggested to emergency responders that his father was a depressed, crippled and sad old man who probably killed himself. "He carried a great sadness with him throughout his life."
That's a LOT of circumstantial and some direct evidence. I'm sure we can come up with more and that does not include Sutherland's expert opinion that it's unlikely that WM shot himself.
MOO
It will be interesting, the next portion of the trial.
One thing, there’s absolutely no roadmap for predicting suicide. Making future plans and acting happy is exactly the reason why family and friends of suicide victims suffer huge grief because they didn’t notice any warning signs.
Of the tweets we read, I didn’t notice anything specific regarding WMs drinking habits, how often, how much, but I’m not convinced his comment to JC regarding “his problem” can be interpreted that it was nighttime drinking. Nothing specific that I recall was said about the state of his health or what caused the bad back, doctors care, etc we are only left to speculate.
Aside from JC, the majority of the witnesses were either responders or other people who admitted not knowing WM on a personal basis. Only one witness, the officer who the prosecutor apologized to the judge on behalf of, was adamant of murder as opposed to suicide.
My interpretation from testimony regarding the financial state of the new Millardair hanger, it cost $10 million to set up and later sold for less than $5 million. There was no financial benefit for DM to murder his father (however if there is motive, it could be to mitigate his loss).
My view is MMs testimony was unreliable and we don’t know if the defence will call any witnesses yet. If I were a juror I’d still be on the fence and off the top of my head I’d like to have heard evidence about
- WMs overall state of health in general, mental and physical
- Millardair financial statements including details regarding cost overruns and financing (ie accountant’s testimony)
The one thing we likely all agree on, from only the little we know, there were huge red flags that DM was not capable of managing the new business. His behaviour had to have been an embarrassment and disgrace and it appeared to be getting worse and not better. Given that was the whole point of WM starting the business into his early 70s, even mortgaged his own home to make it happen, unknown health issues, if he was of sound mind, how could’ve he been happy?
ETA - about the home mortgage, that’s huge. By Nov/12 it must’ve been noticed new air carriers weren’t flocking to Kitchener- Waterloo airport looking for MRO facilities. No contacts, no debt repayment, certification or not. Depending how highly leveraged he and the company was, no ability to repay, if loans defaulted, WM was at risk of losing his home. That had to have been a huge concern.