Accused says he was defending wife

Nephew argues his uncle was about to sexually assault drunk woman

A man accused of murder claims he was justified in the fatal attack on his uncle because the uncle was sexually assaulting the accused’s wife at the time.

Norman Robinson has pleaded not guilty to the Aug. 1, 2015, second-degree murder of Louis Mason, 46, in the victim’s home in Klemtu, a small community about 55 kilometres north of Bella Bella on B.C.’s coast.

Court heard that just before the attack, Robinson looked into the window of Mason’s home and saw Mason lying on the floor beside Robinson’s wife.

Both Mason and Robinson’s wife were naked from the waist down and the woman was unconscious due to intoxication.

When Mason, who was also intoxicated, reached over to fondle her, Robinson broke down the front door and kicked Mason in the head before repeatedly punching him. Mason died later of his injuries. In final submissions in the trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Tuesday, Robinson’s lawyer Terry La Liberte argued that his client was not guilty of murder because he was “very concerned” about his wife’s safety and wanted to protect her from a sexual assault.

“He was mad, he was worried about her,” said La Liberte.

“And he was jealous,” interjected B.C. Supreme Court Justice Arne Silverman.

“And he was jealous,” said La Liberte. “He was worried about his children, the mother of his children.”

La Liberte told the judge that Robinson, a father of three, knew that when his wife drank, she “got herself into pickles” and therefore it was reasonable for him to assault Mason under the circumstances.

“This man was about to mount his wife. It was totally reasonable to stop him at that point.”

La Liberte said the blows inflicted on the victim were not a “gross, excessive force.”

In his final submissions, Crown counsel Phil Sebellin said there was “no air of reality” to the claims by Robinson he was acting in defence of a third party, namely his wife.

The prosecutor argued the force used by Robinson — kicking the victim in the head and then punching him repeatedly — was excessive and that one kick would have been enough to defend his wife. Robinson’s rage and jealousy took over and he went well beyond what a reasonable person would do in the circumstances, he said.

Sebellin noted Mason suffered a broken nose, two other broken bones in his face and had his right eye ruptured in the attack.

The victim also suffered a broken hyoid bone in the neck area.

“It wasn’t a boxing punch,” Sebellin said. “It was more of a pounding.”

Sebellin argued Robinson’s motive in the slaying was anger at seeing his uncle and his wife half naked on the floor and told the judge the accused intended to kill the victim.

The judge is expected to give his verdict at a later date.