WARNING: This article contains graphic details and strong language heard in court that may not be suitable for some readers.
The anguished moans of a dying man resounded in a Barrie courtroom Wednesday as three 911 calls were played as the jury began hearing evidence in the second-degree murder trial of Rick Patrick in the death of Christopher Forrester.
Forrester, 36, an Orillia native who had been living in Midland, died nine days before Christmas in 2021 after suffering a single, 10-centimetre deep stab wound that pierced his heart.
Patrick, a 68-year-old father of three and also a Midland resident, was Forrester’s landlord.
During Wednesday's court proceedings, it became plain as the tapes were played that it was the accused who was the dominant voice on the tapes, which were about 10 minutes in duration across three different calls. Two of those calls were made by Patrick, one was made by Forrester.
It was not confirmed whether Forrester’s voice could be heard on any of the calls, but his moaning made it clear he had suffered a traumatic injury.
He died at the Midland hospital a few hours later.
Patrick's elevated, frantic and occasionally angry tone dominated all three recordings as call-takers tried to gather facts in the aftermath of the deadly stabbing.
“I just got home, got out of my car and he attacked me from behind,” said a voice on the third and longest call, which was almost six minutes long.
Much of all three calls was spent trying to ascertain the location of the incident so emergency services personnel and police could attend the scene on Galloway Boulevard in Midland.
But there was also a consistent voice, presumably Patrick's, alternating between providing address details, the identity of Forrester and his reason for stabbing him.
“He tried to attack me when I got out of my car,” said the voice on the tapes, before uttering Forrester’s name. “He’s on the ground now.”
“He came up from behind and I put a knife into his chest,” the same voice could be heard yelling shortly after.
“Motherfucker, why would you do that?” shouted the same man.
During its opening submission on Tuesday afternoon, Crown attorney Dennis Chronopoulos told the jury that Patrick had been spending the evening of Dec. 15, 2021 at his partner’s home before leaving for his own residence.
The Crown is alleging that Patrick killed Forrester with “requisite intent” to warrant a charge of second-degree murder.
The Crown, in its opening submissions, also said a deteriorating relationship between the two men led to Forrester’s death, including allegations that he had cut the cable cord at the trailer he rented from the accused and slashed a tire on a vehicle owned by him.
A voice on the tapes made clear reference to these allegations.
“I know who he is,” said the man, presumed to be Patrick. “He’s a piece of shit. He’s going to be evicted (for) vandalizing.”
Two separate recordings – it was unclear if both were from the calls made by Patrick – also detailed Forrester's dire condition and the need for urgent assistance.
“Get here and help him,” the voice said in the second recording, which was more difficult to hear as it was played for the jury. “He’s going to die.”
Audio quality was an issue and court staff struggled to provide the best possible recording for the jury to listen to. That delay, which was roughly an hour, was eventually solved, but it spoke to an earlier instruction from Justice Clyde Smith, who is hearing the case in Superior Court, who said jurors were to consider what they heard on the calls as evidence, rather than the transcript exhibits of all three calls.
As all three calls were played in court, jurors could be seen following the transcripts closely.
Forrester’s father, Lance, and two of his siblings were in the public gallery for much of the day, but were not in court to hear the calls.
The day began with a juror being excused for heath reasons and the trial continued with 11 seated jurors. An alternate had earlier been excused on Tuesday afternoon just before opening submissions in the case were heard by the original, full 12-person panel.
The trial continues and is expected to last up to three weeks.
