Verdict Thursday in Goodridge trial
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A verdict will be handed down Thursday morning in Grande Prairie Court of Queen’s Bench at the Daniel Goodridge trial.
Final summations were heard Tuesday morning.
Goodridge has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disorder to six charges related to stabbings at a Fox Creek area work camp in 2015 that left two people, David Derksen of La Crete and Hally Dubois of Red Deer, dead.
During his nearly hour-long final presentation, Chief Crown Prosecutor Steven Hinkley questioned if Goodridge was killing indiscriminately to silence voices in his head, why did he not attack two other people he came in close contact with during the night of the stabbings.
Hinkley also brought up statements Goodridge made at the time of the attacks, saying they show justification for actions in the instance of the stabbing of Derksen and an attempt to get another victim to lower his guard before he was attacked. He also mentioned how Goodridge was guarded in the past but told a paramedic when asked what happened said, “I killed someone.”
The nearly half-hour long summation from defence counsel Anna Konye included a statement where she called the attacks a “motive-less crime that cannot be explained by common criminal motives.”
She also said Goodridge would have felt more secure in an ambulance and more free to open up.
Konye also pointed out there was nothing before the judge to that would lead to less weight being given to the testimony of two psychiatrists called as witnesses by the Crown.
Several comparisons to the Matthew de Grood case in Calgary came up during final arguments as well.
Justice KG Nielsen asked the Crown about the de Grood matter early in its summation, saying, “There is nothing unique about this case” in reference to Goodridge. The Crown offered later that there was more evidence of state of mind in the de Grood matter than there is with Goodridge.
de Grood was found not criminally responsible after five people were stabbed to death at a Calgary house party in 2014.
In an agreed statement of facts entered early in the trial, Goodridge admits to the slayings at the work site as well as to terrorizing others who woke in the middle of the night to screams.
Psychiatrist Lenka Zedkova testified that Goodridge’s mental state led him to believe his co-workers wanted to assault him. She said he had been hearing voices and thought he needed to kill everyone to make them stop.
Court heard that Goodridge, 31, stabbed Derksen more than 70 times, cut off parts of his body and set him on fire.
