Gregory guilty of second-degree murder

By Lawrence Powell

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

Jamie John Gregory, the man who admitted killing Lawrencetown Legion bartender Peter VanderPluijm on December 22, 2006, was found guilty Thursday of second degree murder. Sentencing is scheduled for October 20.

In delivering his decision at Annapolis Royal Supreme Court, Judge Kevin Coady recounted evidence and testimony, including a videotaped confession by Gregory who admitted attacking 59-year-old VanderPluijm after the bartender pushed him off a stool at a VLT machine.

While Coady conceded that Gregory had been provoked, he believes that under provocation criteria in the Canadian Criminal Code and in case law, VanderPluijm’s provocation did not warranted Gregory’s response.

Defense lawyer Joel Pink’s case rested on the issue of provocation and that under provisions of the criminal code Coady had the option of finding Gregory guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. However, after hearing from expert witnesses and going through case law, Coady was convinced that Gregory’s response to VanderPluijm’s push was not the typical response of the ordinary person of someone in Gregory’s demographic.

Gregory, according to his own video confession, described events at about 10:30 p.m. December 22 when VanderPluijm asked him to cash in so he could turn off the VLT machine and close the Legion. Normal Legion closing time was 11 p.m. and Gregory felt he had the right to keep playing.

Gregory told VanderPluijm he was going to finish using his credit on the machine and told the bartender several times to ‘f--- off.’ At that point VanderPluijm pushed him. Gregory fell off the stool, got to his feet and punched VanderPluijm in the face, sending him flying across the floor. Gregory then attacked the bartender, hitting him repeatedly on the head. Finally Gregory took a fire extinguisher from the wall and hit the prone bartender three times on the head.

Gregory, who was 29 at the time, was over six feet tall and weighed 230 pounds. VanderPluijm was considerably shorter, frail, and weighed 110 pounds.

Testimony indicated that Gregory had been drinking since suppertime and had three or four drinks of rum before his parents dropped him off at the Capitol lounge in Middleton before 7 p.m. He spent about 45 minutes there playing pool and VLTs before going to the Legion in Lawrencetown where he had become a regular at darts. Testimony also indicated that Gregory had not been taking his antidepressant medication.

VanderPluijm and Frank Longley were the only two present at the Legion when Gregory arrived, and Longley testified during the trial that VanderPluijm and Gregory were getting along, there was no tension, and VanderPluijm had even gone outside with Gregory when the younger man went to have a cigarette. Longley left at 10:15 p.m. and every thing seemed fine. Longley did admit that VanderPluijm could become sarcastic if somebody didn’t want to leave when he was trying to close up.

Coady also referred to the testimony of Annette Dumbrell who was Legion president at the time. She said she had received complaints from members that VanderPluijm was sometimes closing up early.

After the murder, Gregory said he tried to make it look like a robbery. He then went back to the Capitol. He was arrested the next day.

After reviewing expert RCMP forensic evidence and testimony, and medical testimony, Coady said he believes it was the initial punch to the face that was the cause of death.

VanderPluijm’s wife, sister, and three of his four children were present in the courtroom for the verdict. Also on hand were members of the Lawrencetown Legion, including current president Rick Grant and Dumbrell.

Grant said he had been confident of the second degree murder verdict, adding that Legion members would hold a quiet celebration that evening. He said the Legion and its member have moved forward quite a bit from that tragic night and that the guilty verdict will help.

Peter VanderPluijm Jr. said he was happy with the decision but it’s still difficult.

“After October 20 we will start to try to heal,” he said outside the courthouse, moments before Gregory was escorted out of the building and into a sheriff’s vehicle.

Pink requested a pre-sentencing report, and members of the Legion presented the court with a victim impact statement that will also be considered at the time of sentencing.