Metchosin murder trial: Crown lays out series of events following accused's prison break

Crown prosecutors continued to lay out their case Wednesday against two men accused of killing a man in his home after their escape from a Vancouver Island prison, as the murder trial resumed for a third day.

Zachary Armitage and James Lee Busch are charged with killing 60-year-old Martin Payne in 2019, a day after the pair walked away from William Head Institution, located about eight kilometres from the victim's home in Metchosin.

Armitage and Busch escaped the institution, located on a small peninsula west of Victoria, by walking along the shoreline at low tide on the evening of July 7.

Janet and Clayton Reynolds, a retired couple living in Metchosin were among those called to the witness stand by the Crown in an attempt to lay out what allegedly took place prior to Payne's slaying.

The two, who testified individually, both said that on the night of the 7th, they heard a loud knock on their door some time around 10 p.m. –something that had never happened at that time of night in the 16 years they’ve lived in the rural municipality.

They said Clayton went to the front door while Janet went to a kitchen window with a view of the door.

Clayton said he had a clear view of the two men, who asked to use their phone, he said he denied this request.

The next morning Janet said she saw a local news article about the prison escape, which included pictures of Armitage and Busch, and sent it to her husband, who said he had no doubts that those were the two men who had knocked on their door.

Next the Crown called on RCMP digital evidence expert Ambrose Oba-Underwood, who conducted a report on the activity of Payne’s computer the day of the alleged killing on July 8.

According to the report, Payne’s computer, which Oba-Underwood said did not have a password for the single user account was awoken at 6:37 a.m.

He said between and mid-afternoon, there were a series of web searches from Google chrome.

The Crown previously stated that Payne would have been at work during that time frame.

The search results included web articles regarding the escaped prisoners from William Head, as well as “private water taxi from Vancouver island to Vancouver” and “Zachary Armitage”.

During the proceedings, Payne’s daughters sat in the front row, just feet away from the prisoner’s box where Busch sat, listening intently, while often taking notes.

Armitage appeared by video due to an apparent back issue which halted the proceedings Tuesday.

Justice David Crossin told the jury at the start of the trial that although the men are being tried together, their guilt or innocence should be determined individually.

The trial is expected to last five weeks.

With files from the Canadian Press