'You were planning to hurt people,' Crown tells accused in Vancouver double murder
Credit to Author: Keith Fraser| Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2020 01:39:36 +0000
The Crown suggested Monday that a man accused of murdering a Marpole couple had researched ways to kill people.
Crown counsel Daniel Mulligan made the suggestion about Rocky Rambo Wei Nam Kam during his cross-examination of the accused in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Kam, 29, has pleaded not guilty to the September 2017 first-degree murders of Richard Jones, 68, and his wife, Dianna Mah-Jones, 64.
The accused admitted during his testimony that he had killed the couple in a brutal fashion, in their own home in an apparently random attack.
He is claiming, however, that he was suffering from a mental disorder related to an addiction to videogames and that he didn’t have sufficient intent to commit murder.
The Crown’s theory is that Kam bought a number of items at a Canadian Tire store several weeks before the murders, including a hatchet and a knife, with the specific intent to murder someone.
During his cross-examination, Mulligan pointed to some online searches that Kam had done in the months before the murder, including searches on ways of using drugs to knock people out, and searches for stun guns.
“I’m suggesting to you that all of these searches were because you had an interest in killing people and you wanted to come up with a plan about how to do it,” said Mulligan.
“I don’t think so,” said Kam.
“What do you mean you don’t think so?” asked Mulligan.
Dianna Mah-Jones, 65, and Richard Jones, 68, were found dead in their Marpole home.
“If you’re saying that I want to kill people, a stun gun is no powerful tool to kill any people,” said Kam. “I don’t think so.”
“Let me re-phrase that,” said Mulligan. “The stun gun was not to kill someone. It was to disable them so then you could kill them slowly, right?
“Are you asking my opinion?” said Kam.
“I’m suggesting to you that that’s why you were interested in the stun gun,” said Mulligan. “You were planning to hurt people. You didn’t want to kill them right away. You wanted to subdue them so that you could kill them slowly, like you did with Mr. Jones?”
“I don’t think that that’s the case,” said Kam.
Pressed by Mulligan about a statement Kam made that he was shocked when police showed him a surveillance video of him purchasing the items in the Canadian Tire store, Kam said he didn’t think he had killed the couple “in a way.”
“I never feel any feelings about it. I don’t lose sleep at night. I don’t feel guilt or any happiness or any sadness over it. I don’t specifically try to remember.”
Also on Monday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow released to the media an eight-hour video of a police interrogation of Kam following his arrest in November 2017.
The accused’s lawyers applied to have the video played in court in its entirety in a bid to prove that his demeanour during the police interview is evidence of his state of mind at the time of the killings.
The Crown argued that the interrogation was not relevant because it occurred more than 40 days after the September 2017 slayings.
After watching the video, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow admitted the evidence at trial, but said the question remains as to how much weight she will give it.
During the video, Kam repeatedly asserts his right to silence, a tactic that proved frustrating for the officer doing the questioning.
Near the end of the interrogation, Vancouver police Sgt. Leah Terpsma tells Kam that she doesn’t want him to walk away from the interview without explaining anything or apologizing for anything.
“I can see that you’re emotional,” Terpsma tells the accused. “Why aren’t you at least taking the chance to express remorse? Maybe, today, you’re not ready to talk about the whole ugly story. But at least say you’re sorry.”
“Sorry for what,” says Kam.
“For what?” says Terpsma. “You’re an animal.”
The officer then exits the interview room and Kam is left alone.
Clearly agitated, Kam then says a number of things in Cantonese, his native language.
“This is f—ing crazy,” Kam says, according to a translation provided by the Crown and read out in court by one of the prosecutors. “I didn’t kill anyone. How can I be sorry? I can only feel sorry if I killed someone. This is f—ing crazy.”
The trial continues Tuesday.