A murder trial slated for the next two weeks began in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Tuesday, March 21.
Jason Michael Holm, 37, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of neighbour Paul Samuel Whitten, 39, who was stabbed to death at his West End residence on Aug. 1, 2020. Police were called to a home on Clarke Street, where Whitten was found with serious injuries. He later died and Holm was arrested a short time afterwards.
In court on Wednesday, a Kamloops Mountie testified about what happened when Holm was arrested following Whitten’s fatal stabbing.
Court heard that police had received reports from Holm’’s mother prior to Whitten’s death, indicating that Holm was not taking his medication and that he might “do something bad.”
“He seemed a little bit confused and also a little bit agitated,” Const. Jason Adams told court about Holm’s arrest. After about 10 minutes of conversation at the scene of the crime, Adams said, Holm cooperated with police during the arrest.
Adams said before arriving at the crime scene, he saw a police report from the previous night (July 31, 2020) in which Holm’s mother contacted Mounties to express concern about Holm being off his medication, noting he had been walking around the streets naked and masturbating.
“According to the police report, she was worried that he was going to do something bad over the weekend because he was off of his medication,” Adams testified. “She requested that the police check on him.”
Justice Joel Groves is expected to render a decision about whether Holm should be deemed not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
Crown prosecutor is Tim Livingston. Defence lawyer is Matthew Smith.
