A Victoria man went into his 70-year-old housemate’s unit “in anger” and struck him multiple times in the head with a hatchet, Crown prosecutors alleged as the man’s second-degree murder trial began Tuesday.
Michael King was initially charged with aggravated assault in the 2023 attack after police called to a rooming house in the Cook Street Village area found Michael Jones covered in blood from a head wound.
The charge was upgraded to second-degree murder when Jones died in hospital nine days after the March 6 attack after being removed from life support.
Court heard police were called to a rooming house on Chester Avenue where both Jones and King lived. Another resident reported Jones was injured and bleeding.
Officers found Jones sitting on his bed covered in blood when they arrived. He suffered five wounds to the left side of his scalp, ear and face, Crown prosecutor Jess Patterson said, reading from an admission of facts.
DNA analysis showed Jones’ blood was on a hatchet found in King’s sink as well as on a knife found in his own room, and King’s DNA was found on the handle of the hatchet, according to the admission of facts.
On Tuesday, two officers who were first on the scene took the stand.
Const. Dave Dobbyn described responding to the call around 11:25 a.m. and finding Jones covered in a “considerable amount of blood” down the left side of his head and front of his body. He noticed swelling to the back of his hand and saw a knife that appeared to have blood on it to Jones’ right.
Const. Tristan Pakosh said the left side of Jones’ head appeared “pulpy and swollen” and he could feel lacerations and “flaps” around Jones’ left cheek.
Jones responded “very minimally” to questions about what happened, saying only “help me” and that he didn’t know, Pakosh said. Eventually he stopped responding, he said
“At the time I was dealing with him, he had lost a lot of blood. He was very pale in the face and his gaze was unfocused. He looked to be declining pretty rapidly,” he said.
Jones wasn’t able to move on his own, struggling with co-ordination, Pakosh said.
On Thursday, two other residents of the rooming house, including the man who called police, are expected to testify.
