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Airdrie killer Michael Roebuck didn’t need to weigh the pros and cons of his decision to fatally shoot his neighbour to be convicted of first-degree murder, a prosecutor said Thursday.
But the lawyer for Roebuck argued his actions in shooting Daniel MacDonald in broad daylight on the victim’s driveway was indicative of a lack of deliberation before he acted.
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Defence counsel Kelsey Sitar asked an Alberta Court of Appeal panel to either order a retrial for Roebuck, or substitute a conviction of second-degree murder in the case.
Crown prosecutor Rajbir Dhillon was peppered with questions by Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf on how trial Justice Michele Hollins was able to conclude MacDonald’s death was the result of planning and deliberation by the killer.
“What we have is an 11-minute situation triggered by a fight,” Strekaf said, of fisticuffs between Roebuck and MacDonald at an Airdrie gas station not far from where their homes were which precipitated the fatal shooting.
“Where can we find that he put his mind to the consequences?” she asked.
“There’s six witnesses … he gives no consideration to the consequence of ‘what if I get caught.’”
But Dhillon said Hollins wasn’t required to determine if Roebuck put his mind to what would occur after he killed MacDonald.
“It doesn’t need to be a cost/benefit analysis,” he told the three-member appeal panel.
“You can infer from the totality of what he did that he did consider and he did deliberate on this plan,” Dhillon said.
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“You can infer he deliberated on his plan and it doesn’t matter if it’s 11 minutes or it’s an hour.”
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Roebuck and MacDonald, who lived doors apart on an Airdrie cul-de-sac, were former friends and business partners who had a falling out.
On the afternoon of Sept. 7, 2019, the two men ran into each other in a nearby gas station parking lot and got into a fight.
As Roebuck drove away afterwards he yelled “I’ll see you at home,” and when he got to his residence he went to his basement, retrieved and loaded a shotgun and then waited in his garage until MacDonald arrived home.
The offender then raced to the victim’s driveway and shot him once in the chest and once in the back.
In her written submissions, Sitar said Hollins failed to consider indicators of Roebuck weighing the likely benefits and drawbacks of carrying out his plan to shoot MacDonald, such as whether he had a getaway plan, or took steps to minimize or eliminate witnesses.
The appeal judges reserved their ruling.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
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