Judge to address murder trial jury Friday

Warning: this story contains graphic content

There is no doubt that Tyler William Robert Hurd bludgeoned Cynthia Crampton to death with a hammer and tried to asphyxiate her. The contentious issue at his trial is whether it was second-degree or first-degree murder, a Saskatoon jury heard.

The Crown and defence made their closing arguments on Thursday at Hurd’s firstdegree murder trial in Court of Queen’s Bench.

Hurd confessed to killing Crampton in her bathroom on June 1, 2016, meticulously detailing the half-hour ordeal to several police officers.

Hurd met Crampton through his girlfriend, Tammy Poffley. Crampton let the couple stay with her when they were homeless. After her death, Hurd told police he murdered her because she got Poffley hooked on painkillers and tried manipulating him into having sex with her.

Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo said Hurd believed Crampton deserved to die, despite everything she had done for him.

That the killing was planned and deliberate — a necessary requirement for first-degree murder — was demonstrated by the things Hurd did and said in the days leading up to it, Fillo argued, outlining the following evidence:

A day and a half before her ■ death, Hurd wrote about killing Crampton on a board that was later found in her home.

He told police he considered ■ smashing a glass over her head while they were in a Home Depot parking lot, but decided it would be better to wait until she got paid a few hours later.

During his confession, Hurd ■ called the killing “full-blooded pre-meditated murder.”

He talked about deciding to ■ kill Crampton in her bathroom because it would be easier to contain the evidence.

Fillo said Hurd had several chances to stop while Crampton begged for her life during the brutal, prolonged attack.

“He knew exactly what he was doing and kept going until he was absolutely sure she was dead,” Fillo told the jury.

Hurd also said he wasn’t using any drugs when he decided to kill Crampton, and when he executed the plan, Fillo noted.

Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar said his client had already lost everything before meeting the love of his life, Poffley. Hurd was terrified about losing her, too, he said.

Bodnar admitted that Hurd intended to kill Crampton and is therefore guilty of seconddegree murder.

However, he argued his client lacked the planning necessary for first-degree murder.

Bodnar questioned why someone who had planned a murder would not only remain in Saskatoon after the killing, but spend two nights in Crampton’s basement suite with her body in the bathroom.

Hurd told police he “snapped” before killing Crampton.

That’s the opposite of planned, premeditated murder, Bodnar told the jury.

He argued that when Hurd ripped a towel bar off the wall and tore a leather strap off Crampton’s purse in order to strangle her, those decisions were made in the moment.

“He knew what he had done, but he had no other concept of planning or deliberation,” Bodnar said.

Justice Neil Gabrielson is expected to give instructions to the jury today.