By Canadian Press

Defence lawyer in trial of escaped B.C. inmate says Crown did not prove guilt

Dec 13, 2022 | 1:35 PM

VANCOUVER — The defence lawyer in the B.C. Supreme Court murder trial of an escaped inmate says the jury must acquit his client because the evidence doesn’t align with the prosecution’s theory of events. 

Ryan Drury told a jury in closing arguments that DNA evidence and lack of blood splatter on the clothes of James Lee Busch, means either that his client wasn’t in the house, he didn’t take part in the murder or his only involvement was in cleaning up the crime scene.

Sixty-year-old Martin Payne was killed on July 8, 2019, a day after Busch and Zachary Armitagewalked away from William Head Institution in Metchosin on southern Vancouver Island.

Armitage began the trial with Busch, but the prosecutor says the Crown is proceeding against the two accused on separate indictments.

Crown attorney Chandra Fisher said in her closing statement on Monday that the pair were “inseparable” and that unless Payne’s killer was a “master ninja” who could wield three weapons at once, there must have been two attackers in Payne’s home. 

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However, Drury says there was nothing about the wounds that shows they had to be inflicted by two people, and he suggested to the jury that Armitage worked alone.

“Using the hatchet that you’ve seen or using the knife that you’ve seen, one person could easily disable and overcome a bigger person with either of those weapons,” he said.

“I’m going to suggest to you, members of the jury, Zack Armitage would not need to be a master ninja to do that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.

The Canadian Press