Security guard who killed man on B.C. university campus convicted of manslaughter

A security guard at Langley, B.C.’s Trinity Western University who killed a man on campus four years ago has been convicted of manslaughter.

Howard Hill was killed on Sept. 30, 2020, following an altercation with Jack Cruthers Hutchison.

The incident occurred early in the COVID-19 pandemic, while the campus was closed to all but staff and students living in residence.

Hill, who was not a student, had been wandering on campus and rifling through students’ rooms, prompting several to call security, according to a judgment handed down by Justice Catherine Murray on Friday.

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According to the ruling, Hutchison eventually spotted Hill and called out, identifying himself as security and ordering him to stop. Hill ran instead, prompting Hutchison to tackle him.

Hutchison put Hill in a neck restraint and held him there until police arrived. Hill was transported to hospital unconscious and later died.

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Crown argued that Hutchison had killed Hill in the course of an unlawful assault, pointing to the neck hold.

Hutchison’s defence argued that his use of force was reasonable, as it was committed in self-defence and in the defence of others. It also argued the death was accidental, as he didn’t know he was pressing on a critical artery.

In her ruling, Murray referred to witness testimony that Hill had told Hutchison three to four times that he could not breathe and rejected Hutchison’s claim he didn’t hear the statements.

She also found that Hill was clearly no longer a threat once he stopped moving and that Hutchison could not claim self-defence in that situation.

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Hutchison practiced multiple martial arts including boxing, Muay Thai, Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and was aware that restraining someone by the neck was dangerous, she added.

“I find that Mr. Hutchison’s actions in taking Mr. Hill to the ground and restraining him with the headlock were reasonable at the beginning,” Murray ruled.

Hill was acting erratically, upsetting students, and had fled when called to stop, she said.

But Hutchison’s use of a neck restraint for between 11 and 13 minutes, she ruled, was not reasonable. She also rejected Hutchison’s claim that Hill “suddenly went unconscious” the moment police arrived.

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“I accept that Mr. Hutchison did not intend to hurt Mr. Hill and that he certainly did not intend to cause his death. However, that is not the legal test,” she found.

“When Mr. Hill stopped resisting, he was no longer a threat to Mr. Hutchison or anyone else, and the nature of Mr. Hutchison’s response became disproportionate.”

Murray went on to conclude that Crown had proven its case that Hill’s death was caused by pressure to the neck, and to reject arguments by the defence that he could have died from a heart attack caused by drug use.

A date for sentencing has not been set.