No evidence presented in defence of man accused in Abbotsford high school stabbing
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2019 19:51:05 +0000
The defence lawyer for a man accused in the stabbing death of a 13-year-old girl in Abbotsford says no evidence will be called in his defence.
Twenty-four-year-old Gabriel Klein has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Letisha Reimer was killed in the attack and another girl whose identity is protected by a publication ban was injured.
Klein’s lawyer Martin Peters told the B.C. Supreme Court trial that the defence case is now closed.
The court had previously heard that Klein’s defence would be that he is not criminally responsible for the attack because of a mental disorder.
He was held in a forensic psychiatric hospital following the stabbings until he was found mentally fit to stand trial earlier this year.
“We won’t be calling any evidence,” Peters said Monday.
Crown attorney Rob Macgowan said the prosecution was not expecting to begin final arguments Monday and would need more time to prepare.
Letisha Reimer died during an attack at Abbotsford Senior Secondary School.
“Certainly, this comes as somewhat of a surprise to the Crown,” he said before the court took a break so the legal teams could discuss possible dates to reconvene.
The trial has heard that an Abbotsford shelter provided Klein with a map to the local library so he could email his mother. At the time, the library was connected to the school library.
The unnamed girl testified in a video statement played in October that she and Reimer were in the rotunda of Abbotsford Senior Secondary School on Nov. 1, 2016. She was writing out Christian music lyrics while Reimer took photos to post on social media later.
Another student told the court she watched Klein push the girl from her chair and begin stabbing her while Reimer screamed for help.
The girl told the court she ran into a classroom and only remembers Reimer screaming, not the pain from her stab wounds.
Two witnesses also testified in October that they saw Klein walking near the school in the hours before the stabbings. He was grunting loudly, making high-pitched noises and seemed to be in distress, they said.