Jurors took five days to convict two men of the premeditated murder of a Calgary financier who was shot six times last year after a million-dollar business deal went sour.
The financier was killed by a hired hit man. Jack Beauchamp, a 49-year-old married father of three, was gunned down on Jan. 16, 2006, in the offices of Morbank Financial Inc., which he founded.
Yesterday, an eight-woman, four-man jury convicted Robert Deer, 54, and Mohamed Karim, 26, on individual counts of first-degree murder.
"We're just thrilled with the verdict, but there are clearly no winners," Deborah Beauchamp, wife of the victim, told reporters yesterday.
Throughout the trial, which wrapped up last Wednesday, the Crown alleged that Mr. Deer, a developer, hatched a plot to kill Mr. Beauchamp and hired a hit man, Mr. Karim, to carry out his plan.
Mr. Beauchamp was found in a pool of blood outside his office on the 12th floor of a downtown office tower.
Mr. Karim's lawyer said he would appeal; Mr. Deer's lawyer said a decision on an appeal would be made soon.
Crown prosecutor Sue Kendall previously told the Court of Queen's Bench that Mr. Deer secured a $1.2-million loan with Morbank to build a duplex in one of the city's trendiest neighbourhoods. In late 2005, the deal fell apart, but Mr. Beauchamp insisted that Mr. Deer still pay the $18,000 lending fee.
The two exchanged a number of nasty e-mails, prompting Mr. Beauchamp to fret about his safety to family, friends and police.
"I think that the jury did an excellent job in very carefully considering all of the evidence and they really worked hard," Ms. Kendall told reporters yesterday.
On the stand, Mr. Karim admitted to shooting Mr. Beauchamp but said he never intended to kill him, thinking that the .22-calibre weapon was only deadly when used to shoot someone in the head. (Mr. Beauchamp was hit in the body.)
Defence lawyer Naeem Rauf told the court that his client is a "dumb" and "stupid" man who was manipulated into going to Mr. Beauchamp's office carrying a gun as protection. He never intended to kill Mr. Beauchamp, he told the court, pointing out that he fired only when the financier lunged at him.
"Mr. Deer did not have the courage to do his own dirty work," Mr. Rauf told the court during final arguments.
Instead, he said, he got his client - an uneducated, transient gardener - to do his bidding. He told jurors his client is only guilty of manslaughter, not premeditated murder.
Alain Hepner, Mr. Deer's lawyer, told the jury that his client wouldn't kill someone over an $18,000 fee dispute.
"[Karim]defied Bob Deer's instructions to just go and have a talk," he told the court during closing arguments.
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