Sick juror delays murder trial deliberation

Murder suspect Glenn Randall will have to wait a few extra days before learning his fate after jury deliberations were delayed until next week because of an ill juror.

The five-woman, seven-man Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench jury was scheduled to hear final legal instructions from Justice Earl Wilson on Friday.

But when one member took ill, Wilson decided to delay his jury charge until Monday, after which jurors will begin deliberating Randall’s fate.

Randall, 56, is charged with firstdegree murder in the Jan. 6, 2015 shooting death of Brenda Walker.

Walker, 49, was repeatedly shot by Randall with a .22 calibre, semiautomatic handgun he had taken to her home in the early morning hours of that date.

It’s the Crown’s theory Randall was angry and jealous after he and Walker ended their relationship just days earlier.

But the defence has argued Randall was too drunk at the time of the shooting to form the specific intent to commit murder.

Defence counsel Jennifer Ruttan told jurors during her final submissions on Thursday that Randall should only be convicted of manslaughter in the killing.

Crown prosecutor Lori Chambers argued Randall’s conduct in the hours leading up to the shooting, in which he forced his way into Walker’s basement suite before shooting her six times, showed the killing was planned and deliberate.

And the prosecutor said Randall’s conduct at the time, which included loading his gun and going to Walker’s home to kill her, showed he wasn’t sufficiently impaired.