Lawyer says client is ‘not well’
Accused murdered Graham Veitch waives preliminary hearing, has trouble adjusting to prison life
Accused murderer Graham Veitch has waived his right to a preliminary hearing and his case will be heading directly to Newfoundland Supreme Court for trial.
Veitch, 19, appeared in court Friday morning for the second time this week. As at his earlier appearance, he walked very slowly and kept his head down, with a vacant facial expression. His appearance and demeanour have changed drastically since he was arrested last December.
His lawyer, Mark Gruchy, told the media Veitch is not well, but declined to elaborate, since information about the case has yet to be revealed in court. Veitch has been having a difficult time in prison in a complex way, Gruchy said, and noted that the correctional system struggles to deal with mental health issues. He noted, for example, that Veitch often spends time in administrative segregation at HMP.
Once he’s arraigned in Supreme Court next month, it’s expected Veitch will enter pleas of not criminally responsible to the charges he faces, though Gruchy would not confirm this.
“As this matter makes its way through the court process, our objective is simply to ensure a fair process for Mr. Veitch, which takes into (account) all relevant factors as required by law,” Gruchy said. “The process is slow, but that’s the nature of our system.”
Veitch is charged with firstdegree murder in connection with the bludgeoning death of David Collins, 55, just before Christmas last year. Collins was the partner of Veitch’s mother, and they lived together in Logy Bay-middle Cove-outer Cove. Police and paramedics were called to the home and found Collins gravely injured. He was taken to hospital and later died of his injuries. Veitch’s mother and brother had also allegedly been assaulted but weren’t injured.
Veitch had reportedly stolen Collins’ car and fled, but police caught up with him about four hours later. He attempted to escape and rammed the vehicle into a police cruiser, then struck another one.
In addition to the murder charge, Veitch is charged with assaulting his mother with a hammer, assaulting a police officer, theft of a motor vehicle and failing to stop for police.
The crown dropped the charge of assaulting his brother with a hammer in court Friday.