Mistrial declared in first-degree murder case

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This article was published 26/06/2023 (858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mistrial has been declared in the case of a Manitoba man accused of murdering his neighbour.

Eric Wildman, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the June 7, 2021 killing of 40-year-old Clifford Joseph. Wildman and Joseph lived on neighbouring properties near Stead, about 90 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

The trial, which started May 15, was adjourned June 12, due to a medical issue involving defence lawyer Martin Glazer. Jurors returned to court Monday expecting to resume hearing testimony, but were instead told the trial could not proceed.

“Initially it had seemed as though it would be something that wouldn’t necessarily be overly serious, but unfortunately, Mr. Glazer’s health issue has persisted,” co-defence counsel Mitchell Enright told King’s Bench Justice Rick Saull. “It is his position he cannot continue acting for Mr. Wildman in this trial in a competent manner.”

Wildman was “not comfortable” proceeding with Enright alone, leaving the defence no option but to request that a mistrial be declared, Enright said.

“In my 30 years as a prosecutor and 13 years as a judge, I have never experienced this,” Saull told the 11-person jury before formally declaring a mistrial. “Sadly, my hands are tied.”

Saull will preside over a new trial. No dates have been set.

Wildman repaired damaged vehicles for resale from his home, which was destroyed by fire weeks before the killing.

Prosecutors allege Joseph was trying to steal a trailer winch on Wildman’s property 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 another property three kilometres away, 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.

Jurors heard testimony police found receipts in Wildman’s car showing he went to an auto parts business in Winnipeg two days later, and bought a replacement car hood and headlight.

Wildman called police from his mother’s Winnipeg home on June 9 to report a handgun missing from his Stead property and learned he had been identified as a suspect in the killing. That same day, he took a taxi to the airport, rented a car and drove to Belleville, Ont., where he was arrested June 17.

Joseph’s body was discovered a day later.

In a jailhouse phone call recorded after his arrest and played for jurors, Wildman claimed that damage to his car was caused by hitting a deer.

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“I ain’t smoked anybody with my car. I smoked a deer, just like I did nine or 10 f—-ing times before,” Wildman said during a Dec. 16, 2021 call to an unidentified man while he was in custody at Headingley Correctional Centre.

In a Dec. 2 call to an unidentified woman, Wildman claimed “the government” was involved in burning down his house.

“The government now?” the woman replied. “You keep changing your story there… You didn’t say anything about the government before. You were convinced it was the neighbours.”

“I don’t know who did it,” Wildman said. “I can’t prove it. It could have been the government, it could have been the neighbours…. It was 100 per cent arson, though.”

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.