Defence says wife drowned by accident or suicide
At close of trial, lawyer for accused says drugged women’s death was not manslaughter
When Anna Karissa Grandine drowned in a bathtub with a sedative in her system, it was a tragic accident or a suicide — not because her husband secretly drugged her, defence lawyer Amit Thakore told a jury in closing arguments Tuesday.
Ex-pastor Philip Grandine, 32, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife Karissa, who drowned Oct. 17, 2011. A therapeutic-level dose of the sedative lorazepam, also known as Ativan, was found in her system.
The jury has heard this is Philip Grandine’s second trial in his wife’s death.
Thakore said Crown prosecutors had a “fundamental misunderstanding of their own evidence.”
Thakore said prosecutors were asking the jury to speculate about why Karissa Grandine — who was 20 weeks pregnant at the time of her death —drowned.
There is no solid evidence about where Philip Grandine would have obtained the lorazepam and how and when he would have given it to his wife, Thakore said.
Instead, Thakore argued, it was Karissa Grandine, 29, who obtained the lorazepam, researched the drug — including what would be a fatal dose — on the couple’s shared home computer, and then used it to take her own life upon learning her husband had continued to have an affair with a former friend and fellow church member.
The couple had entered marriage counselling after the affair was initially discovered, about two months before Karissa Grandine’s death.
An autopsy concluded the drowning death could be consistent with suicide or an accident, Thakore said.
And while the Crown argued the ex-pastor used the “forgot my password” function to uninstall a pornography blocker on the home computer less than an hour before he called 911 — Thakore maintained it was possible Karissa did so herself.
“I submit that Mrs. Grandine knew she was about to end her life and didn’t want to burden Mr. Grandine with those restrictions once she was gone,” Thakore said.
He also disputed whether Philip Grandine would have been able to detect if his wife had taken the drug herself, and so been able to prevent her from taking a bath.
Prosecutor Donna Kellway on Monday said it would be pos- sible for the jury to find Grandine guilty of manslaughter if he had been aware she had taken the drug, but did not stop her from getting in the tub. Kellway told the jury that although the Crown’s case is built on circumstantial evidence, there is no evidence to suggest Karissa Grandine took her own life.
Philip Grandine, a nurse at a long-term care facility, had access to lorazepam, Kellway said. No prescription for lorazepam for Karissa was found and the drug is contra-indicated for pregnant women. Online searches linked to lorazepam or Ativan were made shortly before or after searches for female escorts, which the Crown said shows it was Grandine who was researching sedatives, not Karissa.
Kellway said Karissa Grandine was being drugged by her husband so he could continue his affair. Days before she died, Karissa Grandine had complained of feeling extremely fatigued, confused and dizzy. Philip Grandine took her to the hospital, where a blood sample was taken that was later found to contain lorazepam.
Karissa Grandine’s sister, Hannah Darvin, said after that incident her sister told her she was scared because she didn’t know why she felt that way. Her mother, Maria Darvin, said she was present when her daughter asked her husband if he had given her a pill — which he denied.
Thakore told the jury Karissa Grandine’s family and the pastor who had been conducting their marriage counselling could have colluded with each other to provide false statements to the police.
Philip Grandine was arrested six months after his wife’s death.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday.