Wildman convicted last fall of shooting OPP officer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2025 (260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba jury that found Eric Wildman guilty of killing his neighbour in Stead in June 2021, wasn’t told about his conviction for the attempted murder of an OPP police officer a week later during a standoff at an Ontario home.

A court-ordered publication ban prohibited disclosure of the details about his Ontario trial last fall so as not to prejudice jurors in Winnipeg.

On Nov. 21, 2024, Wildman was found guilty at the Picton Superior Court of the attempted murder of an OPP officer, one of nine who found him at a home on Massassauga Road near Belleville, Ont., after he had fled Manitoba and evaded police for about a week.

Wildman was asleep at the home of a family friend in Rossmore at 3:06 a.m. on June 18, when police tried to enter the home with an arrest warrant. He fired six bullets from a Glock 90 pistol into the wall beside the entryway.

Wildman and the home’s owner, John Leonard, surrendered after a three-hour standoff.

Wildman remained expressionless when the jury foreperson confirmed the guilty verdict. He was also found guilty of possession of a restricted firearm with readily available ammunition.

The case was notorious in the summer of 2021, when Wildman fled to Prince Edward County, only to find himself shooting at the nine police officers who tried to apprehend him.

During cross examination by Crown Attorney Adam Zegouras, Wildman admitted he travelled the 2,000 kilometres from Winnipeg with an unloaded Glock 90, three boxes of ammunition and two extra magazines stored in his rental vehicle.

When he arrived at the home of a family friend, he said, he loaded the gun and put it in his pocket. Wildman said he was afraid for his life because someone had set fire to his home and shop in Manitoba two weeks earlier.

He was fast asleep when the OPP’s emergency response team burst open the door and deployed a 170 decibel flash bang grenade in the entryway. Wildman thought it was a gun.

He said he thought it was a home invasion. He fired six warning volleys into the wall by the front door.

During his closing submission, the prosecutor said he doubted that explanation.

“He drives 2,000 km from Manitoba where he believes there’s an arsonist who wants to do him harm, and only upon arriving in Prince Edward County does he load his restricted firearm and carry it around in his pocket,” Zegouras said. “How can anyone from Manitoba have a clue where he was?”

Zegouras argued it was far more likely the suspect was awakened by the OPP, moved behind a couch further inside the home, and opened fire. The line of sight, cluster of bullet fragments, and scatterings of shell casings collected by the forensics team confirmed Wildman wasn’t in a recliner, as he claimed, when he fired his gun six times.

Wildman’s lawyer, Peter Zaduk, told the jury it was not enough to convict Wildman if they thought he was trying to scare police, or even if they thought he was reckless when he decided to fire in their direction.

“In order to convict him of attempted murder, you have to determine Eric Wildman actually intended to cause someone to die. Not just cause them harm or scare them,” Zudak said.

During defence testimony, psychologist Dr. Kent Somers testified Wildman demonstrated an intellectual and developmental disability and autism spectrum disorder.

— Picton Gazette