TORONTO – A Toronto jury is now deliberating the fate of a Toronto senior accused of murdering a fellow resident in a long-term care home and trying to kill another.
Peter Brooks, 76, has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of 72-year-old Jocelyn Dickson and the attempted murder of 91-year-old Lourdes Missier.
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Jurors at his trial have heard that late one night in March 2013, Brooks used his cane to attack Dickson and Missier in their beds at the Wexford Residence in Toronto’s east end.
Brooks has testified that a spirit in a dream told him to “beat the crap” out of his two fellow residents, and has insisted he didn’t actually intend to harm anyone.
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His defence lawyer has urged jurors to find the elderly man not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, arguing that Brooks has dementia and is unable to appreciate the nature of his actions.
But the Crown has argued that Brooks knew what he was doing was not only legally wrong, but morally wrong as well. The Crown has also said Brooks is lying about what he does and does not remember.