Escaped inmate guilty of first-degree murder in 2019 killing of Vancouver Island man

Roughly 24 hours after receiving its instructions, a jury found James Lee Busch guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of a man in his Vancouver Island home in July 2019.

The trial began a month ago with two defendants, but took a sudden turn when the judge advised that one of the men would be dealt with separately.

Busch's co-accused, Zachary Armitage, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder halfway through the trial, a fact that was not made public while Busch's trial was ongoing.

An agreed statement of facts between the defence and the Crown states that Busch and Armitage escaped from William Head Institution in Metchosin on July 7. 

The Crown alleged that both men took part in the killing of 60-year-old Martin Payne in his Metchosin home the next day.

The two men will now be sentenced separately at later dates.

Neither of the accused took the stand during the four-week trial.

In presenting what it openly acknowledged was a mostly circumstantial case, the Crown called a number of witnesses, including DNA experts, blood spatter analysts and pathologists.

In his closing remarks, Busch’s lawyer Ryan Drury told the jury there were three possible scenarios they should consider, and that each of them allowed for reasonable doubt about whether his client was guilty.

Drury said the first possibility was that Busch was not in Payne's home at the time of the killing.

The second possibility he presented was that Busch was in the home but did not take part in the forcible confinement and murder of Payne.

For the third scenario, Drury suggested the jury should consider the possibility that Busch was there but that participating in an attempted cleanup of the crime scene was his only involvement.

Crossin spent Tuesday afternoon giving the jury their final instructions before they began deliberating.

Co-accused Zachary Armitage pleaded guilty to first degree murder halfway through the trial. The two men will be sentenced separately at later dates. @CTVVancouver pic.twitter.com/t8XjqDXDQO

— Ben Miljure (@CTVNewsBen) December 15, 2022

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ben Miljure