Jury begins deliberating at Willis murder trial in Dartmouth

The jury began deliberating Monday at Richard George Willis’s second-degree murder trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Dartmouth.

The seven-man, five-woman jury started its discussions at about 3:30 p.m. after hearing closing arguments by lawyers and final instructions from Justice James Chipman.

“You have taken an oath or made a solemn affirmation to well and truly try this case and to render a true verdict according to the evidence,” Chipman told the jurors.

“If you honour that oath or affirmation, as I’m sure you will, you will have done everything that is expected of you as jurors in this trial. We ask for nothing more and we expect and are entitled to nothing less.”

Jurors deliberated until just before 6 p.m., when the judge ordered them sequestered at a hotel for the night. Deliberations will resume Tuesday morning.

Willis, 65, of no fixed address, is charged in the strangulation death of Eleanor Harding, 84, whose body was found in her home at 3 Lynwood Dr. in Dartmouth on July 11, 2020.

He was initially accused of first-degree murder, but prosecutors downgraded the charge to second-degree murder in 2022. He has never applied for bail.

The trial got underway Jan. 9 in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

The Crown alleges Willis broke into Harding’s house through a basement window in the early morning hours of July 10, 2020, murdered the elderly woman and ransacked her bedroom before fleeing with some of her possessions.

Mark Harding, one of Harding’s sons, found her dead on the hallway floor after going to the house on July 11 at about 11 a.m. for a regular visit.

A medical examiner concluded Eleanor Harding was strangled with a ligature, likely a pair of jeans that were around her neck when her body was found.

The Crown called evidence from a dozen people at trial, beginning with Mark Harding.

DNA evidence

An RCMP forensic specialist testified that Willis’s DNA was on the jeans, in fingernail clippings from both of Eleanor Harding’s hands, and on the inside headband of a black fedora that was located beneath the basement window.

An LG cellphone that was also found below the window contained three user accounts in the name of Willis, an RCMP digital forensic analyst told the court.

Papers, bank cards, an iPhone, driver’s licence and other items belonging to Harding were recovered from bushes across the street from her house or along nearby Waverley Road.

The jury was shown video clips of a Black man, wearing a black fedora and a grey suit and carrying a light, walking past Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club on Prince Albert Road in Dartmouth on July 10 at 2:33 a.m. and through the parking lot of a Tim Hortons on Waverley Road at 3:14 a.m.

The jury also saw videos of what appears to be the same man walking outbound on Waverley Road on July 10 at 5:34 a.m. — near where some of Harding’s items were scattered — and getting out of a vehicle farther out Waverley Road at about 6 a.m. The man in those videos was bald and was not wearing a hat or carrying a flashlight.

A flashlight in the “on” position was found on the floor in Harding’s bedroom when police responded to a 911 call by her son.

The jury heard evidence that Willis used to live with a girlfriend on Lynwood Drive and knew Eleanor Harding.

No defence evidence

Willis elected not to offer any evidence at trial.

In his instructions, the judge stressed that Willis is presumed innocent and the burden is on the Crown to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

For the jury to find Willis guilty of second-degree murder, it must be satisfied that he caused Harding’s death, that he did so unlawfully and that he had the state of mind required for murder.

The other available verdicts are guilty of manslaughter and not guilty.

All 12 jurors must agree on the verdict, Chipman said.

“A verdict, whether of guilty or not guilty, expresses the unanimous opinion of the jury,” he said. “Sometimes jurors are unable to reach a verdict. Under our law, jurors have the right to disagree. No jury, however, will ever be in any better or different position to decide this case than you now are.”

Closing arguments

In his closing submission, Crown attorney Rob Kennedy alleged Willis, based on the video evidence from Prince Albert and Waverley roads, killed Harding sometime between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

“This was a targeted home invasion, fuelled by greed and opportunity,” Kennedy said. “It culminated in a brutal murder of a defenceless elderly woman (who was) 84 years old, five feet tall, 110 pounds.

“This is an overwhelming Crown case against Richard Willis, make no mistake. The way the evidence stacks up cannot be a coincidence.”

Kennedy said the starting point in the analysis of the case is the DNA evidence, which he described as “extremely compelling.”

“My colleague, (Scott) Morrison, told you at the beginning of this trial that this case is a puzzle,” he said. “We submit to you that the puzzle is complete.

“Considering all the evidence and applying your good common sense, you should be left with no reasonable doubt that Richard Willis committed the offence of second-degree murder and return a verdict of guilty as charged.”

Defence lawyer Godfred Chongatera, in his closing remarks, pointed out that his client’s fingerprints were not found anywhere in the house or on any of Harding’s belongings that were recovered. He said the video clips tendered by the Crown were too grainy to be reliable.

Chongatera noted that the forensic expert admitted there was no way to tell how or when Willis’s DNA was deposited at the scene. “This creates a gap in the DNA evidence,” he said.

“There are too many gaps in the evidence that would be difficult to fill without speculating about what happened here. Those gaps raise doubt as to what happened.

“Beyond a reasonable doubt is a very high standard. The evidence presented by the prosecution does not reach that standard. I ask you to return a verdict of not guilty.”