Senior on trial ‘not criminally responsible,’ lawyer argues
76-year-old charged with murder was capable of deliberately targeting women, prosecutor says
A jury will begin deliberating Wednesday whether a senior with dementia is criminally responsible for murdering one nursing home resident and attempting to murder another.
As a result of his dementia, Peter Brooks, 76, was disinhibited, impulsive and unable to distinguish right from wrong when he used his walking cane to attack Lourdes Missier, 91, and kill Joycelyn Dickson, 72, his lawyer Charn Gill argued in his closing address to the jury Tuesday.
His behaviour on the night of March 13, 2013, was driven by a long-standing delusion that Missier, Dickson and a third woman, Margaret Burke, were conspiring with the Wexford nursing home management to kick him out, Gill said.
“He feels justified in his actions because of his belief,” Gill said, urging the jury to return a verdict of not criminally responsible. “We all know that regardless of what Peter’s belief was, there is nothing that can justify his actions. This is where Peter’s departure from society’s moral code becomes glaringly obvious. He is still unable to appreciate the moral wrongfulness of his actions.”
Brooks faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Crown prosecutor Donna Kellway argued that Brooks was capable of deliberately targeting the women and that his motive was not delusional but based in reality.
The women had repeatedly complained to management and staff about him after a series of altercations.
After the latest violent incident, where Burke said Brooks punched her, the executive director of Wexford suggested Brooks move from the long-term-care side to the independent living side of the facility because his health had improved, the jury heard.
Kellway said Brooks was able to discern the real reason he was being asked to leave was his history with the three women, prompting him to seek revenge.
“It doesn’t appear delusional for him to think this way. It doesn’t appear unreasonable for him to think this way,” Kellway said.
It is not a coincidence that, on the same day she was killed, Dickson told a staff member she was afraid of Brooks and that he said he was going to kill her, Kellway said.
“She ended up dead, killed by Peter Brooks, because he disliked her and wanted her dead,” Kellway said.
Kellway argued Brooks lied to the jury about a spirit in a dream telling him to beat up the women, lied about not having a memory of what happened that night and exaggerated his inability to walk or see.
“He knows what he did and he wants you to think he doesn’t know,” she said. “Don’t be fooled by him.”
She pointed to his comments to nursing home staff as he was being taken away by police to show he understood the consequences of what he had done: “Hey girls, I’m going to jail now, you ain’t going to see me again.”
Gill criticized the actions of staff at the Wexford long-term care home for failing to intervene or keep track of Brooks after the attack on Missier.
No Code White was declared after Brooks attacked Missier on the second floor of the nursing home, he pointed out. Though Brooks encountered two staff members as he slowly made his way to the third floor and Dickson’s room, they did not stop him or follow him despite knowing he struck Missier.
And even after killing Dickson, who was partially paralyzed, Brooks was able to get to Burke’s room on the sixth floor before he was finally stopped outside the door by a concerned personal support worker.
“Had the staff on the fifth and sixth floor been working on the second and third floor, this tragedy could have been prevented.
“This was not by the design of a master manipulator but rather the movements of a demented senior citizen walking around a select group of ill-equipped or incompetent Wexford staff,” he said.
Gill also slammed the nursing home for failing to treat Brooks for his dementia and mental heath needs.
Brooks squinted through his gold wirerimmed glasses as he listened to the arguments using an assistive listening device.
When Gill referred to Dickson telling a staff member Brooks had threatened to kill her, Brooks hoarsely whispered: “I never said that.”
The Crown will finish closing arguments Wednesday.
“This was not by the design of a master manipulator but rather the movements of a demented senior citizen.” CHARN GILL DEFENDANT’S LAWYER ARGUES IN COURT