Man guilty in 2023 murder of housemate

Michael King has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2023 killing of his housemate Michael Jones, a 70-year-old who died from head injuries inflicted with a hatchet.

Justice Veronica Jackson delivered her verdict Thursday after a trial that began in March. On March 6, 2023, Jones was found with life-threatening injuries to his head; he died in hospital nine days later. King was charged with second-degree murder on April 3, 2023.

Court heard that King had struck Jones in the head at least five times, fracturing his skull and damaging his brain. The two men had been housemates and had regularly fought over Jones's smoking in the home, with neighbors corroborating accounts of banging on walls and disputes between them.

King's defence argued his schizoaffective disorder and use of drugs including cannabis, magic mushrooms, and a homemade sedative called chlorobutanol impaired his ability to understand the consequences of his actions. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Kolchak testified that King may have been experiencing paranoia, somatic symptoms, and psychosis, though he could not definitively link these to the attack.

Jackson rejected the defence argument as "purely speculative," finding that King's inconsistent accounts of the incident—sometimes claiming no memory, sometimes saying he felt in a dream—were unreliable. The judge found the only identifiable driving force was anger.

"I find no basis for concluding that factors such as Mr. King's schizoaffective disorder diagnosis or symptoms, which waxed and waned, or the consumption of the chlorobutanol-like substance he tried to create disturbed Mr. King's thought processes in a way that interfered with his understanding of the circumstances," Jackson stated.

King's next hearing is set for June 17, with sentencing to follow at a later date.