A murder trial has begun for a Midland man accused of stabbing to death his tenant nine days before Christmas in 2021.
Richard “Rick” Patrick, 68, of Midland, faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Christopher Forrester, 36.
The trial is taking place in the Barrie Courthouse before Superior Court Justice Clyde Smith.
“I just wanted to talk to him,” the victim is alleged to have told a first-responder as he lay dying at the scene, next door to Patrick’s residence on Galloway Boulevard in Midland.
The knife used was recovered another driveway down, court heard.
Quoting the deceased to begin his opening address, Crown attorney Dennis Chronopoulos laid out his case to the jury, which was picked earlier on Tuesday.
Chronopoulos said that Forrester’s death was the result of a dispute between “two former friends” whose relationship fell apart after the victim became Patrick’s tenant.
Forrester later died at Georgian Bay General Hospital in Midland of a single stab wound, 10 centimetres deep, that pierced his aorta as it carved its fatal path through the victim’s chest, according to Chronopoulos in his opening address.
Among the agree-upon submissions in the case are that Forrester was wanted on a mischief charge for allegedly slashing a tire on Patrick’s vehicle.
The deceased was serving a 60-day sentence of house arrest on an unrelated assault causing bodily harm case at the time of his death. The house arrest was being served at the trailer owned by Patrick and rented from him by Forrester.
Chronopoulos told the jury that the two men had been in dispute over issues relating to Forrester’s tenancy beyond the alleged tire slashing. For instance, Patrick believed Forrester had cut the cable cord servicing the trailer at 8 Vics Rd., in Midland.
A hearing was scheduled for January 2022 to deal with those issues.
“That hearing never took place,” Chronopoulos said in his opening address.
That Patrick stabbed Forrest is not in dispute, said Chronopoulos. It was the most significant of the agreed-upon facts the jury was told before court broke for the day on Tuesday.
Earlier, while pointing out a number of factors that are incumbent in serving on a jury, Chronopoulos told them that “you are the masters of the facts.”
The Crown will attempt to prove that Patrick had the "requisite intent and (this case) is not self-defence," he added later.
It is expected that Patrick’s lawyer, Alison Craig, will claim that her client acted in self-defence.
The trial continues on Wednesday morning when it is anticipated that the jury will hear two 911 calls — one from the accused and the other from victim which was made before he succumbed to his injuries.
