The Vancouver man accused of murdering his mother has been found guilty.
Brian Whitlock was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his mother Barbara in 2014.
He was arrested in November 2014, after an eight-hour standoff with Vancouver police.
WATCH: Brian Whitlock found guilty of murdering his mother
In delivering her verdict, BC Supreme Court Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten accounted a family ordeal that saw Barbara Whitlock act as her son’s only advocate, allowing Brian to live at her Dunbar-area home when other family members struggled with the decision.
She eventually purchased a Kerrisdale apartment for him to live in but he ended up killing her a month before he was set to move in.
In finding Brian Whitlock guilty of second-degree murder, the judge rejected his testimony, saying he made a lot of it up.
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But it doesn’t mean he will end up behind bars.
Next week lawyers return to court for a hearing to determine whether he’s criminally responsible for the murder.
In 2013, Whitlock made headlines because he was convicted of beating his dog, Captain, and leaving the animal for dead in a dumpster.
He was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
When people found Captain in the dumpster, he was covered in cuts and puncture wounds, with serious neurological and spinal damage. He died the next day and the SPCA began to investigate.
Whitlock pleaded guilty to charges of abuse, but said he thought Captain was suffering and was trying to “put him out of his misery.”
Speaking outside the courthouse, Barbara Whitlock’s widower Warren Clare said he was satisfied with the verdict, but noted the ordeal has been rough on the family.
“That a victim’s family must endure more than two-and-a-half years of turmoil and uncertainty, the mental torture of replaying tragic events over and over, only to have delays and countless adjournments to get to this day.”
With Barbara Whitlock’s two other sons at his side, Clare said the system failed her in her bid to get help for Brian.
In particular, he pointed to rules that allowed Brian to reject mental health diagnoses and medication.
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