Lawyer defending slaying victim’s son keeps her co-worker on hot seat in courtroom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2026 (215 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lawyers defending a man on trial for killing his mother continued their grilling of one of the woman’s co-workers Tuesday, alleging he was guilty of “gaslighting” the victim and his own wife when they accused him of violent or inappropriate behaviour.

Defence lawyer James Lockyer questioned the man about a number of violent incidents with his wife that resulted in police dispatched to their Winnipeg home, alleging the man falsely accused his wife as being the aggressor.

“You described your family life as being somewhat chaotic,” Lockyer put to the man.

“I imagine just like any other family,” the man said.

“Well, the police had been involved several times, right?” Lockyer said. “I’m not sure that’s like any other family.”

The man cannot be identified by name due to a publication ban. The Free Press is not naming the 51-year-old victim as it would identify her son, who was 16 years old at the time of the March 2019 killing.

This is the second time the accused has been tried before a jury.

Defence lawyers argue the co-worker killed the victim after she filed a workplace harassment complaint against him.

On Tuesday, Lockyer questioned the man extensively about his testimony at the first trial involving a domestic violence incident involving his wife in August 2016.

The man testified at the earlier trial that his wife had attacked him and continued to assault him as he tried to get away and was on the phone with 911. The man said his wife hit him in the head and he “saw stars” and that he sought medical treatment for a concussion.

Lockyer read the man a police report which included no mention of him being injured, only that they had argued over divorce issues and that there had been “incidental contact.”

Lockyer accused the man of fabricating the story and “reversing roles” with his wife.

“I’m going to suggest to you sir, what in fact was going on was you had assaulted (your wife) and you picked up the phone and you pretended while you are on the phone that (she) is assaulting you,” Lockyer said.

“You are terrible to say that, you are so wrong,” the man replied, his voice rising with emotion. “The fact that you are trying to create a false narrative is disgusting.”

The man insisted his version of events was true. “It could be that I was in shock at the time, but I did go on to seek medical attention afterwards,” he said.

Lockyer alleged the man’s wife told police at the time: “If something happens to me, I want you to investigate it further, because it wasn’t a coincidence or natural.”

Court heard the man and his wife separated for over a year before he returned home. He moved to the East Coast in July 2019, four months after the murder.

Jurors have heard the man is a military reservist who served two tours in Afghanistan.

“(Your wife) was concerned you were becoming increasingly aggressive since your return from Afghanistan,” Lockyer said.

“I can’t speak to what she thought, but I don’t believe so,” the man replied.

“(Your wife) has told you many times that in her opinion she believes you have post-traumatic stress disorder,” Lockyer said.

“That is incorrect,” the man said.

Court heard the victim filed a workplace harassment complaint against the man May 1, 2018, alleging he made repeated lewd sexual remarks to her and touched her inappropriately.

The man was called into a meeting with company officials a week later and told the victim had accused him of “showing inappropriate behaviour and unwanted attention” and that he “continued this behaviour even though she told you several times (not to continue),” Lockyer said.

“The comments she made were not true,” the man said.

Court heard the man’s employer took no disciplinary action and the victim was transferred to a different department.

The man told police the complaint was “unfounded” and a “she said/he said situation.”

But a letter from his employer said: “The evidence available does not allow us to determine with a sufficient degree of certainty if you had indeed behaved in an improper manner” and detailed conditions that he have no contact with the woman.

“That’s not exactly saying the complaint was unfounded, is it?” Lockyer said. “You may wish it was, but it isn’t.”

When police questioned the man about the victim’s death, he told an investigator he thought she was interested in him romantically, something he did not tell his employer when questioned about the victim’s harassment complaint, Lockyer said.

“I suggest to you sir this is another example of you gaslighting, turning things around for your own benefit,” he said.

The man admitted he told the investigator the woman “was very much into playing the role of the victim.”

“Gaslighting again, then,” Lockyer said.

“No, I don’t gaslight,” the man replied.

The victim was found bludgeoned to death in the bedroom of her Southdale home. Prosecutors argue the woman’s son is the only person seen exiting and returning to the house at the time she was killed.

The trial continues.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca