Jury hears it will have to put together 'puzzle' on Richard Bain's criminal responsibility

The jury in the Richard Bain murder trial is hearing two very different versions of what happened on Sept. 4, 2012, as the defence and the Crown make their closing arguments today after 32 days of arguments and testimony in Quebec Superior Court.

• CBC's complete coverage of the trial

Richard Bain is accused of first-degree murder for gunning down lighting technician Denis Blanchette outside the Metropolis concert hall in downtown Montreal, where the Parti Québécois had been celebrating its election win.

The same bullet that killed Blanchette also hit his friend and co-worker, Dave Courage, and left him seriously injured.

See our liveblog recap.

In his folksy style, defence lawyer Alan Guttman led the jury through the events of Sept. 4, 2012 and the days leading up to the deadly night.

He repeatedly ask them to consider: "Was this anger? Or was this a man who was sick?"

He told the jury that his main defence is one of non-criminal responsibility, as outlined in Article 16 of the Criminal Code. 

He read through excerpts from a report by defence team's psychiatrist, occasionally stumbling with the pronunciation of medical terms.

"I don't know what that means," he said, adding that in any case, Dr. Marie-Frédérique Allard concluded that it's more likely than not that Bain was psychotic when the alleged offence occurred.

"It's a puzzle," he said. "You have to put it together. It's not easy but you have to put it together."

Throughout his arguments, Guttman occasionally interrupted himself to look down at his pile of loose handwritten notes. 

"I want to make sure I don't miss anything," he said, with a smile to the jury.

• Accused Richard Bain says he has no memory of election-night shooting
• Crown prosecutor raises concerns about 'suspicious' memory loss

The court has heard that Bain has no memory of the night of the shooting, and the defence is arguing he should not be held criminally responsible because he has bipolar disorder and believed he was on a mission from God to kill the separatists and protect the anglophones.

Guttman reminded the jury that just four days before the shooting, Bain went to a local patio-bar wearing a kilt and said Pauline Marois was "f---king shit."

And, Guttman added, the weekend before the shooting, Bain paid two strippers $400 for sex.

He suggested those acts were signs Bain was not in his right mind.

"How does a man, almost 62 years old, there's no violence, no criminal record, all the good he did … How could this happen that a man like that could go out on such a rampage?" Guttman asked the jury.

"You have to understand, he had this religious belief that was so real — that he was the instrument of God that he was chosen."

The defence also focused on what Bain said in the moments after his arrest.

"If he was on this murderous rage, as Dr. Watts said, would he say after the gun jammed, 'Grace of God?'" Guttman asked the jury, referring to the hypothesis of the psychiatrist called by the Crown.

• 'Grace of god, the gun jammed': Officer recalls Bain's words​ 
• Police found stockpile of guns, ammo at rustic cabin

Crown: Intent to kill as many separatists as possible

In his detail-oriented style, Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos led jury members through the evidence they have before them.

He argued that Bain went to the Metropolis on Sept. 4, 2012 with a plan to kill as many separatists as possible.

Galiatsatos asked jurors to imagine how Bain would have felt, on his drive to Montreal, as he listened to the radio and heard the Parti Québécois was projected to win the election.

"The PQ rally was, arguably, a gathering of separatists — the object of Mr. Bain's hatred," he said. 

The Crown's theory is that Bain was angry on the day of the deadly attack, because the separatist PQ was elected, and because that meant a moratorium on outfitting permits would not be lifted.

Bain had hoped to turn his remote chalet and fishing camp in La Conception, Que., into an outfitters' camp.

A core part of the Crown's case is a note, written by Bain during a session with a psychiatrist just a couple months after the shooting.

In the note, he writes "the plan was to kill as many separatists as I could."

He adds that, if his semi-automatic rifle didn't jam he wold have kept on shooting, and if he had found then-premier designate Pauline Marois, "I would have killed her."

Galiatsatos also spoke directly to the defence's argument that Bain only mean to shoot over their heads, which is what he told an officer soon after his arrest.

"Does that make any sense?" Galiatsatos asked, reminding the jury that Bain is an experienced hunter.

"Or did he just say that because he realized he was caught, and he realized he was in trouble. Big trouble. And he realized he better think of a way to get out of it?"

The Crown is expected to complete his closing argument on Friday.

The final step will be the judge's instructions to the jury, which is expected to start deliberating this weekend.