A man on trial for the first-degree murder of a Metchosin man three years ago is now “being dealt with in a separate way,” a B.C. Supreme Court jury heard Monday.
Zachary Armitage is no longer present at the trial for the murder of Martin Payne at the Vancouver Law Courts. The trial is continuing with Armitage’s co-accused James Busch, who is charged with the first-degree murder of 60-year-old Payne in July 2019.
On Tuesday morning, Justice David Cross apologized to the jury and offered his regrets for repeated delays in Monday’s proceedings.
“There’s been a change in our case,” said Crossin. “You’ll note that if you look in that direction, Mr. Armitage is no longer present and consequently, his lawyers are no longer required in this trial. This is because Mr. Armitage has been dealt with in a separate way and will no longer be a party in this trial.”
Crossin directed jury members not to speculate as to why Armitage is no longer part of the trial, saying: “there can be many reasons for this to occur.”
He said the jury’s task now is to determine the guilt or innocence of “Mr. Busch and only Mr. Busch.”
“You will continue, I expect, to hear evidence concerning Mr. Armitage … it continues to be relevant concerning the Crown’s overall theory relating to the guilt of Mr. Busch.”
The trial continued Tuesday with evidence from Sgt. Vinod Raju, who was tasked with finding video of Busch and Armitage in Oak Bay, on the Johnson Street bridge and at the international marina on the Songhees Walkway.
Raju testified he attended a briefing at West Shore RCMP and was advised that the two men who escaped from William Head Penitentiary were persons of interest in Payne’s homicide investigation.
Raju was told to look for video of Payne’s red Ford F150 pickup truck. He was also shown photos of Busch and Armitage and the clothing they were wearing at the time of their arrest on the evening of July 9, 2019.
On July 13, Raju went to Ryan Smith’s home on Woodburn Avenue in Oak Bay and saw video of Payne’s truck going by the house at 12:44 p.m. on July 9. The video shows two men walking by the house four minutes later. One man was wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans. The second man was wearing a light-coloured hoodie and jeans, Raju testified.
On July 18, Raju met with City of Victoria employees at the Johnson Street bridge and took still photos of a bridge video that had been taken at 4:54 p.m. on July 9.
The video shows two men walking along the pedestrian walkway toward Esquimalt. The first man is wearing a dark jacket, black hat and black shorts and carrying a bag. The second man is wearing a lighter-coloured hoodie with the hood up and a red and grey backpack, Raju testified.
The jury saw the arrest of two men on surveillance video from the marina taken at 8:17 p.m. on July 9.
Admissions of fact read into the court record by Crown prosecutor Sofia Bakken revealed that when Busch was arrested, he was wearing Payne’s black Canucks cap and Payne’s red and grey backpack. When Armitage was arrested, he was wearing Payne’s Mount Washington hoodie and Payne’s hiking boots.
Another backpack full of camera equipment was found about 350 metres from the marina. The camera in the backpack belonged to Payne, said the admissions.
