Daniel Goodridge knew what he was doing was wrong and didn’t care. That’s the conclusion of the Crown in the case of the June 2015 double homicide at a work camp in Fox Creek.
Closing arguments in the 31-year-old’s trial were heard Tuesday in Grande Prairie, and Justice K.G. Nielsen plans to make his verdict on November 8th. At the beginning of his hearing last week, Goodridge pleaded not guilty to five charges on the basis of a mental disorder.
In an agreed statement of facts, he admits to killing 37-year-old David Derksen and 50-year-old Hally Dubois and attacking three others at the Berland Open Lodge in the early morning hours of June 30, 2015. However, the defence argues he is not criminally responsible for the crimes.
The court heard from doctors that he was hunting people with a butcher knife indiscriminately trying to get relief from the voices he says he was hearing in his head. However, Chief Crown Prosecutor Steven Hinkley argues that there was a pattern to the people he did and didn’t attack and that things he said at the time showed he understood the consequences of his actions.
“I don’t want to hear about your kids,” he’s reported to have said to another worker who was begging for him to stop. Goodridge also refused that worker’s offers for his car keys, which Hinkley says means he chose to continue his attacks instead of getting away from the scene.
When he was later being treated by EMS, Goodridge was reportedly polite and cooperative. He told them “I killed someone” and when asked why, he responded, “for some excitement.”
While the change in his demeanour without medical intervention was questioned by the Crown, Goodridge’s lawyer Anna Konye argued that could be explained by the change in environment. One doctor testified that if he felt that he was in danger at the work camp, Goodridge may have felt more secure in an ambulance.
Hinkley also argued at length that the reports of the doctors who assessed Goodridge should be given less weight by the judge, as they heavily relied on what the suspect said about what happened months later. Koyne maintains that the experts took the things he said the night of into account, and it did not change their opinion of his mental condition.
