Life in prison for crossbow murder
Eric Amaral to serve at least 14 years for ‘target practice using a live target’
KITCHENER — It was a killing that shocked the community.
Michael Gibbon, 60, was out for a morning walk near Breithaupt Park in Kitchener on Oct. 5, 2015, when he was hit by an arrow.
A passerby found him at 7 a.m. lying on a lawn. The arrow, which penetrated his heart, was still in his body. Gibbon died an hour later in hospital.
The killing sparked lockdowns in nearby schools. At the time, Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin said there was a threat to public safety.
Eric Amaral was arrested on Oct. 13 after shooting Det. Const. Doug Buckley in the face with an air pistol, but it wasn’t until a week later that he was charged with Gibbon’s murder.
“What is most disturbing about this case is a total lack of any reason for the taking of a human life,” Justice Gerry Taylor said on Thursday.
“I cannot help but conclude that Michael Gibbon’s life was taken because Eric Amaral wanted to do some target practice with his crossbow — target practice using a live
target. I find this to be shocking.”
Amaral, 30, pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years.
The Kitchener man admitted he was in the bush of Breithaupt Park shooting at targets with his crossbow when he saw Gibbon walking on the sidewalk. Amaral got down on one knee and fired.
“The bolt went right through his heart and lung and was protruding out of his chest,” Crown prosecutor Jane Young said. Amaral had never met Gibbon. “It was a senseless, brutal and cowardly attack on a stranger,” Young said. “There was absolutely no motive.”
Gibbon, who was single and lived alone, was described by family members as witty, quiet and gentle. He was the youngest of five siblings and had been a longtime employee of Gore Mutual Insurance Co. in Cambridge. He was nearing retirement.
“What were you thinking, Mr. Amaral?” Gibbon’s sister, Patricia Boxwell, said in a victim impact statement she read out loud. “What was going on in your evil mind? To the end of our days, we will never know.”
Another sister, Sandra Watts, commented on the “awful way” Gibbon died. He was still conscious when a man walking his dog spotted him. Gibbon repeatedly said “I’m fine” and “it hurts.”
At the hospital, doctors and nurses made a valiant attempt to save Gibbon, but he was pronounced dead at 8 a.m.
“It makes us ill just looking at you,” Watts told Amaral in court. “I have never hated anyone in my life as I do now.”
Calling the murder a “cold-blooded act of aggression,” another sister, Linda Leinweber, wrote in her statement that she will never forgive Amaral. The killer wiped away tears as Leinweber’s statement was read aloud by Crown prosecutor Stephanie Marple.
Amaral had previously worked in factories and in construction, but was unemployed at the time of the murder. He had previously served 90 days in jail for assault with a weapon and, when he killed Gibbon, was under three court orders prohibiting him from owning weapons.
In the days before the murder, Amaral seemed to spend most of his time playing video games, neighbours said.
“I just want to truly apologize for the death of Michael Gibbon, to the family, to the courts and to Const. Buckley,” Amaral told the judge. “Nothing I say can change the death of Michael Gibbon. Sorry, your honour.”
Amaral sat in the prisoner’s box in leg irons. He had a goatee and wore a longsleeve shirt and dress pants.
Young credited Waterloo Regional Police for a thorough investigation. They learned the bolt (an arrow used for a crossbow) that killed Gibbon was sold at Shooter’s Choice in Waterloo. They collected surveillance video of Amaral buying one.
When police phoned Amaral on Oct. 13, he promised to come to the station. Instead, surveillance caught him driving behind the Shell gas station on Victoria Street North and throwing a large item, wrapped in a blanket, in a garbage bin. It turned out to be the crossbow.
Amaral then got on Highway 401 and drove east.
“It is believed that Amaral was fleeing the jurisdiction and perhaps heading to an airport or border,” Young said.
But he exited on Highway 24 in Cambridge and then doubled back to the 401 and returned to Kitchener. He had left his passport at home.
Police moved in to arrest him. Buckley, driving a forensic identification van, spotted Amaral’s black Pontiac Pursuit at 5 p.m. in slow rush-hour traffic on Ottawa Street. Near Nyberg Street, Buckley got out and directed him to pull over.
“Amaral shook his head to indicate no and began to move his vehicle forward,” Young said.
Amaral then lowered his window and pointed what looked like a handgun at Buckley. Amaral fired, hitting him in the face and hand. Buckley shot once but missed.
Amaral then pointed the pellet gun at his own head and then at Buckley.
A tow-truck driver had positioned his vehicle in front of Amaral’s car to prevent him for driving off. The tow truck then rammed his car, startling Amaral, who exited and was arrested.
Young said Amaral had hoped police would kill him. The judge said he found that “disturbing.”
“The trauma that would be experienced by Const. Buckley had the plan proved successful is virtually unimaginable,” Taylor said.
Buckley wrote in a victim impact statement he had never envisioned having to fire at another human being. When Amaral shot him, Buckley thought it was a real firearm and thought he was going to die. He wasn’t seriously injured.
Amaral’s DNA was found on the crossbow he tossed in the garbage bin. In his residence at 352 Edwin St., police found a Molotov cocktail. On his phone, police found he had searched “murders in America,” “Columbine” and “Botulinum toxin.”
On Oct. 20, 2015, he was charged with first-degree murder.
Amaral’s 14-year parole ineligibility period was jointly recommended by the prosecution and his defence lawyer, Brennan Smart. The judge noted Amaral won’t automatically be released after 14 years. It only means he could get parole then.
Amaral also faces a lifetime weapons ban and was ordered to give a DNA sample.
For shooting Buckley, Amaral was sentenced to two years in prison, to be served at the same time as the murder sentence.
Gibbon spent his entire life in Kitchener. He lived on Guelph Street, about 500 metres from the spot where he was hit by the arrow.
“Michael has been described as a beautiful human being, intelligent, compassionate and a man of insatiable curiosity,” Young said. “From all accounts, he was a very nice man and had no enemies. He worked the night shift and enjoyed going for walks in the neighbourhood.”
His killing put Kitchener “on edge,” Young said. “This type of offence shakes the community when an accused like Mr. Amaral demonstrates no regard for the life of another human being and kills a stranger just going for a walk.”