After a three-week trial for Alpha Henry, a surprise twist on the day for closing submissions.
Henry is on trial for two counts of second-degree murder relating to the fatal stabbing of his parents, Veronica and Colin Henry, and one count of attempted murder relating to his younger brother, Daniel Kwame Henry.
The Etobicoke man’s lawyer requested on Thursday that counsel argue whether or not the 28-year-old unlawfully caused the death of his parents and tried to kill his brother, suggesting his client could not form the intent to commit murder.
“If your honour is to find that Alpha Henry committed the act, I would be raising the issue of not criminally responsible (NCR) and seeking an assessment,” Jamie Kopman told Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett.
Kopman said Henry has not yet been assessed.
Assistant Crown attorney Michael Wilson told Barrett he was not surprised by the defence’s request, given the Crown anticipated that the argument of not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder would be advanced.
Wilson told the judge it would make sense for the lawyers to make arguments on the issue of intent and whether the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Henry committed the unlawful act.
“It would relate not only to the two counts of second-degree murder on the indictment, but also on the count of attempted murder,” he said.
The events
It was Sept. 21, 2022, around 1:40 a.m. when police were called to unit 417 at 27 Bergamot Avenue.
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When they arrived, they found Alpha inside the unit and his parents dead in the bathtub. Daniel Henry, Alpha’s younger brother, had called 911 from a nearby gas station, reporting he had come home to find his brother, who was homeless, brandishing a knife.
Daniel reported his brother said, “die, bitch” before attacking him with the knife. Daniel said there was a scuffle, he managed to wrestle the knife away from Alpha, before escaping the apartment and running down the hallway and out a stairwell before running to the gas station where he asked a passerby to call 911.
Daniel had lost his phone in the commotion.
Wilson told Barrett that Alpha had used his dead mother’s cellphone to text Daniel while he was away on business, and set up his brother.
“His parents are laying in a bathtub, unbeknownst to him, his brother is aware he’s coming home, laying in wait and attacks him,” said Wilson.
Contrasting claims
The Crown argued that Alpha fatally stabbed his parents sometime after 11:52 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2022, and afterwards, used his mother’s phone to not only text his brother but to communicate with individuals for sex services.
The Crown argued Alpha also used his mother’s key fob to enter his parents’ building. Prior to their deaths, video surveillance showed Alpha was unable to gain access to the building.
Video surveillance prior to and after the offence is relied upon by the Crown to show that Alpha is responsible and Daniel is not.
But Alpha Henry’s lawyer argued it was his brother Daniel who killed his parents.
He consistently told police both when he called 911 and later gave a statement to police that Daniel arrived home at the Rexdale apartment he shared with his parents and was frustrated to find his parents engaged in prayer. Alpha said it was Daniel who attacked him and killed his parents, before running off with the knife.
But Wilson said that Daniel was out of the country from Sept. 18 to 20 and video surveillance shows did not return to the apartment where he lived until 1:35 a.m. on Sept. 21 and the bodies, which were doused in gasoline, had been dead for some time.
“The Crown submits there is motive. He’s murdered his parents and he knows his brother is coming home and that’s the reason to end his brother’s life. To avoid liability for his crime,” Wilson concluded, saying Alpha was a liar.
But defence lawyer Jamie Kopman pointed to the fact that the forensic pathologist could only say the time of death was sometime after Veronica Henry was last seen or heard from on Sept. 19 and before she was found dead on Sept. 21, 2022.
“There is a knife found on Daniel Henry. We don’t know whose DNA is found on that knife,” Kopman told Barrett. The defence argues that there is reasonable doubt as to whether Alpha did it, and there’s an absence of evidence as to whether Daniel was responsible.
“There’s no conclusive evidence Alpha cleaned up the scene and was waiting for his brother to come home,” said Kopman.
The judge will deliver her decision on whether she believes Alpha Henry fatally stabbed his parents and tried to kill his brother in January.
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