'Walked into a nightmare:' Defence closing submissions in Barrie, Ont., double-murder trial
Warning: Readers may find some details in this story distressing
Closing submissions are underway in the double-murder trial of Dyrrin Daley, accused of stabbing a Barrie, Ont. father and son to death in February 2017.
Daley is charged with first-degree murder in Nick Pasowisty's death and second-degree murder for the death of Pasowisty's father, James Pasowisty.
The father and son were killed in their William Street apartment in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2017.
Daley's lawyer, James Harbic, told the court Wednesday morning that the Crown's forensic evidence failed to prove his client forcibly confined 19-year-old Nick Pasowisty before he died.
The Crown had argued the accused restrained Pasowisty in multiple areas of the home in an attempt to rob the pair.
The accused testified he went to the home to buy marijuana around 3 a.m. and brought a duffel bag with items to trade, including a pellet gun, a special forces tactical flashlight, and an expandable baton.
He told the court he went into a trance-like frenzy after alleging 51-year-old James Pasowisty called him a racial slur and attacked him.
Daley told the court he acted in self-defence in fear for his life after being tackled. He said the duo attempted to throw him off the balcony, and that's when he pulled out a double-edged knife to fend them off.
Testifying he never intended to kill them, Daley said he left his duffel bag behind when he couldn't find it and grabbed Nick's PlayStation 3 as collateral for the future return of his things.
Harbic told the court that had Daley wanted to murder the father and son, he would have ensured they were dead before leaving. "If he really wanted to kill these people, he would have checked on them."
"Is that the mind of a murderous thug?" Harbic asked. "To think down the road, 'I'm going to get my stuff back.' That's the mind of a young person who was in way over his head - that walked into a nightmare and is paying for it every day."
The court previously heard Nick and James were found with 38 and 35 stab wounds, respectively.
Nick Pasowisty and James Pasowisty can be seen in these undated photos. (Facebook/ Instagram)
Nick Pasowisty (19) and his father, James Pasowisty (51) (Undated Photo)
Daley, who was 24 at the time, was arrested later the same day, admitting to police he stabbed the two men, claiming he did so in self-defence.
Last week, Daley, his lawyer, the Crown prosecutors and the justice made a rare visit to the William Street home to gain context to evidence the court heard during the month-long trial.
With his hands and ankles in cuffs, Dyrrin Daley leaves the William Street home where the Crown attorney said he brutally murdered James and Nick Pasowisty four years ago. Fri. June 11, 2021 (Mike Arsalides/CTV News)
The defence lawyer said the visit was to "enable the court to see how small the apartment was, how everything happened in close proximity."
While on the witness stand last week, Daley apologized to the Pasowistys' family and friends, saying he was "truly remorseful and sorry."
Meanwhile, the Crown called the deaths of the father and son "a massacre" during cross-examination, accusing Daley of telling "a rich story" and "a rehearsed act."
The Crown is expected to make its closing submissions Thursday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.