B.C.’s Court of Appeal has upheld the first-degree murder conviction for one of two inmates who killed a Metchosin man after they escaped from prison in July 2019.
James Lee Busch and Zachary Armitage killed 60-year-old Martin Payne in his home a day after walking away from the minimum-security William Head prison, located eight kilometres from the victim’s home in Metchosin, west of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
A jury convicted Busch on Dec. 15, 2022. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Busch appealed his conviction on the basis that the judge erred by failing to instruct the jury to apply a specific requirement to the charge of aiding a planned and deliberate murder.
Writing the appeal decision for the unanimous three-judge panel, Justice Sheri Ann Donegan said the charge to the jury made by sentencing Justice David Crossin was “well-structured and organized” and that no error was made.
The appeal court decision, released on Friday, included text of Crossin’s instructions to the jury.
“Crown counsel must prove that Mr. Busch played an active role in the events that caused Mr. Payne’s death,” Crossin said. “It is not enough that Mr. Busch was there when Mr. Payne was killed, nor is it enough that Mr. Busch played some minor role in the events. What is required is that Crown counsel prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Busch was an active participant who played a physical role in the events that brought about Mr. Payne’s death.”
Crossin told jurors the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Busch was an active participant in the killing, and said that simply being present would not make a person guilty “as an aider.”
The appeal judges ruled Crossin’s instructions to the jury, specifically on Busch’s potential liability as an aider to a planned and deliberate first-degree murder, were consistent with the law.
The inmates walked away from the prison at low tide on the evening of July 7, 2019. They broke into Payne’s home after he left for work at 6:15 a.m. on July 8 and waited until he came home around 3:20 p.m.
When Payne entered his home, they assaulted him and tried to confine him with duct tape, but Payne fought back. At autopsy, the pathologist found Payne had died of multiple sharp and blunt force trauma wounds.
Police later found a note with Armitage’s fingerprint that read: “What is your PIN for cards.”
Busch was wearing Payne’s ball cap and carrying his backpack when he was arrested. Armitage was wearing Payne’s hiking boots and hoodie.
Armitage pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver in November 2022. He apologized to Payne’s family before being sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
— With files from the Times Colonist and Alanna Kelly, Glacier Media
