Jurors learned more about a man accused of two counts of murder as the B.C. Supreme Court trial into the shooting at the mill on Nanaimo’s waterfront entered its second week.
Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern died in shooting at the Western Forest Products in April 2014, while Tony Sudar and Earl Kelly survived. Kevin Douglas Addison, 49, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Brian Butler, United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 president, took the stand Friday, and said when the mill was shut down in December 2008 for approximately two years, Addison was not among the workers called back to work.
Forty-one workers were called back and Butler said Addison was “the first senior person on the list not to be called.” A worker with less seniority had been hired ahead of Addison due to first aid certification. Butler said the union was against the move, but there was no grievance because the mill is entitled to have more first aid attendants.
Addison attempted to file a grievance in January 2011 and among the issues cited were millwright workers doing oiler work for which Addison said he was trained, and which he thought he should’ve been recalled to do. Butler told Scott Van Alstine, Crown counsel, that management had direction of the workforce and the millwrights had seniority.
In addition, Addison took issue with two contract carpenters.
Butler testified that the contract carpentry work was not ready to commence and management directed the carpenters, who were qualified welders, to do welding work. Addison thought he was qualified for the work, but Butler said the company had to recognize a worker’s competency and it had no record that Addison was a qualified welder.
Lunn was on a union committee assisting Addison with his grievances and Butler said the committee declined to receive them. Butler said the grievances were without merit.
Butler said Addison seemed upset that the grievances weren’t moving forward, but it was “nothing out of the ordinary.”
Earlier in the week, Dr. Robin Love, Addison’s family doctor, testified that Addison was exhibiting signs of depression, as Addison had told Love that he was avoiding social situations.
Love testified Wednesday that Addison was having trouble talking to people, didn’t want to go out and didn’t want to go to work, adding that Addison was feeling anxiety, which can often be linked to depression.
Wednesday also saw the testimony of Cpl. Mike Eggen, who was one of the officers who searched Addison’s residence after the shooting.
In a bedroom, Eggen said he saw a gun safe and a “cut-off portion of a gun barrel,” in the room. After opening the safe, nine firearms were found.
Upon searching a garbage can, Eggen found a “crumpled-up” towel and within that, sawdust, a blue hacksaw blade that had been broken into pieces, a wooden stock of a firearm with saw marks, rubber surgical tubing and a trigger lock that looked like it was damaged.
Eggen testified that he believed these items were related to the sawed-off shotgun that had been seized at the mill site.
Pay stubs, collection notices, telephone bills, as well as black electrical tape, were also found at Addison’s residence, said Eggen.
John Gustafson, Addison’s legal counsel, is expected to begin defence this week.
The trial is scheduled to run until Oct. 14.
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