Thieving neighbour caught in the act, killed by man who fled to Ontario, murder trial told Victim in 2021 slaying ‘no angel’ but didn’t deserve to die, Crown says By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, May. 15, 2023

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This article was published 15/05/2023 (847 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clifford Joseph “was no angel,” but that didn’t mean he deserved to die after he was caught stealing from his neighbour, a jury was told Monday.

Eric Wildman, 36, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in Joseph’s June 2021 killing.

Wildman and Joseph, 40, lived on neighboring properties near Stead, about 90 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Wildman repaired damaged vehicles for resale from his home, which was destroyed by fire weeks before the killing, Crown attorney Bryton Moen said in his opening address to the jury.

“After a fire at Eric Wildman’s property… the temptation to turn his neighbour’s misfortune into his own gain was too much for Clifford Joseph,” Moen said. “We say he went to steal from Eric Wildman. That, however, did not make it OK for Eric Wildman to kill him.”

Prosecutors allege Joseph was on Wildman’s property on June 7, 2021, attempting to steal a trailer winch when Wildman arrived and ran Joseph over with his Chevrolet Impala, breaking Joseph’s leg and jaw.

Wildman, prosecutors allege, drove the injured man to a nearby property where he shot Joseph three times — twice in the back and once in the back of the head — before burying him in the bush under some branches.

Joseph’s girlfriend is expected to testify she went to Wildman’s property that same day looking for Joseph and found his truck on the road with the keys inside and several of his belongings, including his shoes, hat and headlamp, scattered in a field.

“As she continued to look for Clifford, she found his tools near a trailer that had a winch on it,” Moen said. The woman called RCMP and reported Joseph as missing. Police quickly came to believe Joseph was the victim of foul play.

Two days later, on June 9, Wildman called RCMP from his mother’s house to say he had been staying at a friend’s home on the night of the murder, Moen said. When questioned by police, the man said Wildman “had not been there, never had stayed there,” Moen said.

Police found Wildman’s car outside a Winnipeg home on June 11. The vehicle’s windshield and bumper were damaged.

“RCMP determined they had grounds to arrest him for murder,” Moen said.

Police towed the vehicle to detachment headquarters, where a subsequent search yielded an empty Glock handgun case and a receipt from Bucks Auto Parts.

“Although it may seem minor, we ask you to pay close attention to that piece of evidence,” Moen told jurors. He said surveillance video from Bucks Auto Parts will show Wildman purchasing a new hood for his car on June 9 and installing it in the parking lot.

“We say that is an attempt by Eric Wildman to try to cover up damage to his vehicle, the damage caused by hitting Clifford Joseph,” Moen said.

After his car was towed, Wildman called RCMP again, this time to report one of his guns was missing.

“RCMP told him they were coming to arrest him for murder and that he should stay at his mother’s house from where he made the call,” Moen said.

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Wildman didn’t wait for police. He took a taxi to the airport, rented a car and drove to Belleville, Ont., where he was arrested five days later by Ontario Provincial Police.

Police found Joseph’s remains on June 18, 2021. Wildman was charged with first-degree murder the following September.

The trial is set for four weeks and will include testimony from civilian witnesses, police, a forensic anthropologist and collision reconstructionist.

“Each of these witnesses has a different part of the story to tell,” Moen said. “This case is like a puzzle. Each piece is important, but each piece does not present much of the picture until seen in context with everything else.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.