Jury begins deliberations in trial of accused in Vancouver Island mill shootings
NANAIMO, B.C. — A jury must decide whether a man who admitted in court to killing two of his former co-workers at a Vancouver Island mill did so in a planned and deliberate way, or if their deaths were the result of “unfocused and unthinking” behaviour caused by severe depression, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge says.
Justice Robin Baird told jurors Tuesday that the premeditation behind a shooting at a Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo will make a difference in whether Kevin Addison should be found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.
The 50-year-old man faces two counts each of first-degree murder and attempted murder after he allegedly used a sawed-off shotgun to shoot four employees at a Nanaimo mill on April 30, 2014.
The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon after Baird reviewed the arguments made over the course of the three-week trial.