Richmond man guilty of using an axe to murder his mother

A B.C. Supreme Court jury on Tuesday found a Richmond man guilty of using an axe to murder his mother.

After less than a day of deliberations, the jury convicted Darwin Lescano of second-degree murder in connection with the gruesome slaying of his mom, 62-year-old Redelma Belissario.

The accused showed little reaction as he sat in the prisoner’s dock in the Vancouver courtroom following the verdict. He will remain in custody pending sentencing.

The trial heard that there had been a turbulent relationship between mother and son, including Lescano being convicted of burning his mother’s Richmond home to the ground in 2008.

On the day of the arson attack, he became angry with Belissario, waited until she left for work and then bought gasoline before setting the house on fire. Then he called his mom to tell her what he’d done. Despite his actions, the mom allowed him to return to live with her following his release.

The victim called police to assist her in dealing with the accused on several occasions after he got out of prison.

And in the last two months of her life, the mom reported a lot of problems with Lescano, including frequent fights as well as threats against her.

The mother of three went missing after returning home from a weekend visit with friends to the Sunshine Coast in May 2015.

Family, friends and business colleagues had become increasingly concerned with her absence, with the victim’s daughter eventually calling police to report her mother missing.

The victim’s other son went by her home on Woodhead Road and discovered the mom lying on the living-room floor.

An axe that had been purchased by the accused about a week earlier was found near the body. The murder weapon had DNA from the victim and accused on it.

A pathologist found the cause of death to be 15 to 20 chop-style wounds, most of them to the head and neck.

The Crown’s theory was that Lescano was motivated by a desire to get more money from his mother and had frequently argued with her over property she owned. He felt owed an inheritance and wanted it immediately.

The defence admitted that Lescano had killed his mother but argued that the accused’s actions were clouded by his addiction to crystal methamphetamine and that he did not have the intent to commit murder.

Lescano’s lawyer called for a conviction of manslaughter, not murder.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility of between 10 and 25 years. The issue on sentencing will be the number of years of parole ineligibility.