Race pleads guilty to pair of 2007 N.S. murders

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia man pleaded guilty to two counts of murder Monday in the stabbing deaths of two people in 2007.

Family and friends of Glen Race and his victims were present as the plea was entered, although they had been preparing for what was supposed to be a lengthy trial.

“By entering the plea, what we have admitted is to the act itself, and we were hoping that that in itself would bring some relief to the victim’s family, knowing that there would not be a trial” said Joel Pink, Race’s defence attorney.

In May 2007, Race — who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia — stabbed 44-year-old Michael Knott and 45-year-old Trevor Brewster to death.

“Trevor’s gone, and Glen Race is responsible for that. My instinct as a person that misses him is to be angry.” said Sherri Bain, a friend of Trevor Brewster.

Bain said it’s a difficult case because if Race had been in the right frame of mind, he likely wouldn’t have committed the murders.

“it is a tragic story all the way around. It’s not the first story of its kind,” she said.

Following the murders, an international manhunt for Race took place.

While on the run, he shot and killed a New York man before being captured in Texas, a crime for which he is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole.

In that trial, the defence of Race not being criminally responsible due to insanity was not raised.

“Presently, we are in the process of retaining New York lawyers to see if there’s any way this whole matter could be re-opened in the United States,” said Pink.

Despite the guilty plea, a conviction has not yet been entered with the court. Race’s lawyer will try to prove he is not criminally responsible when the matter returns to Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax, on Nov. 4.