Crown wants Wilmot Park murderer to spend 5 more years in prison for lying at trial

Aidan Cox · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 12:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

New Brunswick Crown prosecutors privation a convicted murderer to spend five much years successful situation for providing mendacious grounds that upended the proceedings of his girlfriend, who was accused successful the aforesaid homicide.

Crown authoritative MacKenzie Jefferies said Zachery Murphy deserved the other situation time for the transgression of perjury, which helium committed when helium lied connected the basal arsenic a witnesser during the proceedings of Angela Walsh successful January 2023.

"It's a calculated effort to distort reality, undermine the integrity of judicial proceedings, and successful this case, perchance interaction the result of a first-degree execution trial," said Jefferies, speaking Friday earlier Fredericton provincial tribunal justice Natalie LeBlanc.

Murphy and Walsh were jointly charged with first-degree execution successful the homicide of Clark Greene, whose assemblage was recovered adjacent a gazebo successful Fredericton's Wilmot Park successful April 2020.

Murphy pleaded blameworthy to the lesser second-degree execution successful November 2021, and was acceptable to testify as a Crown witnesser successful Walsh's first-degree execution trial.

In that trial, Crown authoritative Darlene Blunston told jurors they could expect Murphy to attest that helium helped perpetrate the murder, but it was Walsh who was chiefly liable for stabbing Greene to death.

Instead, Murphy testified helium was the 1 who stabbed Greene, each portion being unaware of what Walsh was doing astatine that nonstop moment.

The grounds efficaciously ended the trial, arsenic it prompted the Office of the Attorney General to consent to let Walsh to plead blameworthy alternatively to the lesser complaint of second-degree murder.

She was aboriginal sentenced to beingness successful situation with nary accidental of parole for 13 years.

'I was fearing for my ain safety', says Murphy

Murphy appeared successful tribunal Friday by video conferencing from Springhill Institution successful Nova Scotia, wherever he's serving his condemnation of beingness successful situation with nary accidental of parole until 2031.

Asked if helium had immoderate remarks for the court, Murphy said helium lied during Walsh's proceedings to support his ain safety.

"When you're a [maximum security] inmate oregon inmate of immoderate sort, there's a codification you person to follow, right?" Murphy said.

"And good yes, I inactive wanted to bash the connection and all that stuff… but I was fearing for my ain information and I was acting successful my ain aforesaid preservation.

"I didn't privation to beryllium harmed oregon extremity up similar astir different radical who person done this."

Asked by LeBlanc whether helium regretted lying, Murphy said helium didn't, arsenic helium felt helium needed to for his ain safety.

Defence recommends 2-year concurrent sentence

The Crown's proposal would efficaciously prolong the magnitude of clip earlier Murphy would be eligible for parole by different 5 years.

In contrast, defence lawyer Tim Murphy argued his lawsuit should beryllium sentenced to a two-year condemnation that would tally concurrently to the 1 he's already serving.

Murphy argued the Crown was basing its proposal connected different cases wherever lying nether oath resulted successful accused murderers being acquitted altogether.

Where Walsh was inactive yet convicted of execution contempt Murphy's lies nether oath, Tim Murphy said helium deserved a lesser condemnation than the Crown's recommendation.

"I would taxable this is connected the comparatively debased extremity of the spectrum successful presumption of the seriousness of the offence," Murphy said.

Noting however antithetic the 2 recommendations were, LeBlanc said she'd request clip to deliberate connected a sentence, and adjourned her determination until May 15.