Verdict reserved for Mistawasis murder case

His lifeless body was found in the snow outside a residence and there was a blood trail leading up the steps of the deck to the home’s entrance. There was also blood found just inside the door area.

Troy Watson was 36 years old. (Facebook)

Lasas was not arrested until January 2022 and confessed his crime to both a friend, who had picked him up from the house, as well as to an undercover police officer at the men’s jail. He claimed he had been using hard drugs for months and was high on meth when he stabbed Watson.

Meanwhile, the people who had been with Watson earlier in the day testified he too was intoxicated (possibly both drugs and alcohol), and upon returning to the reserve after a trip to Saskatoon, slapped a security officer in the face.

After getting dropped off at the house where Lasas lived, Watson proceeded to go downstairs and came back up with a cell phone. Lasas’s teenage brother was the only other person home at the time, but Watson was still present when Lasas, who had gone out with a friend to get some weed, returned. Soon after demanding Watson leave, the physical altercation occurred between Lasas and Watson.

The younger brother testified at the trial, who was also charged in the case at one time, described trying to break up the fight before giving up and leaving. The brother also claimed to have witnessed Watson getting stabbed two to three times.

There was also testimony heard at the trial alleging Lasas attempted to create alibis and convinced people to lie for him.

Crown Prosecutor Kristen Hubbard, who at the start of the trial did not accept an offer by the defence to enter a guilty plea to manslaughter, stated there was no direct evidence to prove Lasas was intoxicated when he stabbed Watson, adding he knew his actions would cause death.

Hubbard also noted that after the younger brother came forward to police about what happened, Lasas called him a rat but never once referred to him as a liar.

In response, Defence lawyer Mike Nolan suggested Lasas’s actions were actually done in self-defence and in response to an attempted robbery.

Nolan, who also noted Lasas was high and not aware of what he was doing, said Lasas was “shocked” when he ultimately learned Watson was dead.

With respect to the alleged cover up of the crime, Nolan suggested Lasas’s confession to the undercover police officer was genuine and there were no signs at the house of any sort of cleaning being done.

Nolan also stated there were inconsistencies with the younger brother’s testimony, suggesting the brother may have actually been more involved than he had let on.

Part of this assumption comes from the fact the stab wounds were in different directions and there were wounds to both Watson’s front and back.

The case has been adjourned to April 28 for a verdict.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

Verdict reserved for Mistawasis murder case

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