Machete slaying after night of drinking, drugs was second-degree murder, judge decides

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This article was published 27/02/2025 (241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The police officers who responded to a report of a man armed with machetes who was threatening suicide at his Magnus Avenue home found David Allan Morrisseau sitting outside near his bloodstained door, intoxicated and drinking from a two-litre bottle of booze.

It was just before 6:30 p.m. on April 8, 2022, and Morrisseau, then 29, wouldn’t answer questions as he was being handcuffed.

The bloody door at 527 Magnus Ave. led to a search of the house. In the basement, hidden under an empty cardboard box and some blankets, officers found 31-year-old Franklin Aaron Tobacco’s body.

Morrisseau was charged in his death, which occurred sometime after 1:55 a.m., when several other people who’d been at a party there left Tobacco and Morrisseau alone in the house.

After hearing a case largely built on circumstantial evidence, Court of King’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchbery convicted Morrisseau of second-degree murder earlier this month.

“The Crown has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Morrisseau had exclusive opportunity and intended to cause Franklin Tobacco’s death or was reckless as to whether death ensued or not,” Lanchbery said in a recently released written decision.

Morrisseau will be sentenced at a later date. The minimum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

Tobacco, Morrisseau, his brother and several others had spent the prior evening drinking and smoking cannabis in the home the Morrisseau brothers rented.

David Morrisseau, court was told, consumed crack cocaine or meth, as well.

The party moved to another house just before 2 a.m., but he and Tobacco stayed behind.

That is when, Crown prosecutor Sivananthan Sivarouban argued, Morrisseau had the exclusive opportunity to kill Tobacco for unknown reasons.

Police found a pair of machetes in bushes outside the house. Forensic testing later revealed DNA belonging to both Morrisseau and Tobacco on one of the handles, and Morrisseau’s DNA on the other.

There were bloodstains on the main floor, and Morrisseau’s black jeans had Tobacco’s blood on them. The evidence indicated Tobacco’s body was moved from the living room’s blood-soaked couch to the basement.

Medical evidence confirmed Tobacco died of blood loss, caused by 33 machete strikes, including nine severe wounds on the scalp.

Defence lawyers Saul Simmonds and Adam Hodge argued that there was no evidence of intent to kill and to conclude Morrisseau had that intent would be speculation. They also argued Morrisseau’s intoxication at the time would have affected his ability to form intent, relying on the testimony of a doctor.

Lanchbery did not buy that argument, saying Morrisseau’s actions do not show that he was so drunk or high that it would negate his intent.

“The sheer number of blows delivered by Morrisseau shows this was a deliberate attack on Franklin,” Lanchbery wrote. “The after-offence conduct of moving the body to the basement, and covering the body in an effort to prevent the body from being discovered also demonstrates intent.”

The defence lawyers, on cross-examination of Morrisseau’s brother, alleged that the brother or an unknown third party may have participated or caused Tobacco’s death.

Tobacco’s blood was found on the cuff of the brother’s pants, which the judge found is consistent with having walked through the crime scene at one point after the death, rather than participating in the killing.

It’s unclear when, exactly, the brother returned to the house after leaving at 1:55 a.m. before going to his parent’s home where, he told court, he woke up at about 1 p.m.

The brother testified in court that Morrisseau told him at about 1:30 p.m., during a phone call, “I guess I killed Frankie,” which the judge accepted.

The brother and his girlfriend, who had been at the party, walked by the Magnus house at some point in the afternoon and saw the blood on the door and left cigarettes in the mailbox for Morrisseau.

No 911 call was made until the brother told his mother about what he thought happened. Police were called at about 6:15 p.m.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca