Christopher Wood, 69, sat quietly in a prisoner’s box Thursday as lawyers argued over how much weight the judge should put on Wood’s significant mental health issues, in deciding on an appropriate period of parole ineligibility for the convicted killer.

Wood pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this month, admitting he caused his neighbour Etop Ituen’s death by stabbing him repeatedly with a knife. Wood also admitted he “intended to cause Ituen’s death or intended to cause him bodily harm he knew was likely to cause death and was reckless to whether death ensued.”

According to an agreed statement of facts, Wood lived in a building at 131 Coxwell Ave. run by an organization that provides support for individuals with mental health issues. It is directly across the street from 61-year-old Ituen’s building at 126 Coxwell Ave., which also provided supports for individuals with mental health issues.

Wood told his social worker, who regularly met with him, that in the months leading up to July 2023, he was preoccupied and disturbed by a tenant who had been playing gospel radio loudly from his balcony at 126 Coxwell Ave. for several weeks.

Assistant Crown attorneys Brianne Bovell and Jackson Foreman told Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell that Wood’s rage triggered extreme violence on the morning of July 27, 2023, when he stabbed Ituen 42 times.

Bovell said it’s significant that two forensic psychiatrists who assessed Wood were unable to find that a section 16 (not criminally responsible) defence could apply.

Second-degree murder is a mandatory life sentence with a parole ineligibility period between 10 and 25 year. The Crown says a 14-year period of parole ineligibility would be appropriate.

“Ituen was a vulnerable man as well. Living with mental health issues. The manner in which he was killed should be of note,” said Bovell.

“He was stabbed multiple times. The impact on him was a horrific death. We know he was found not moving and unresponsive by police.”

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According to the facts, another neighbour named Christopher Miller who lived beside 126 Coxwell Ave. told police he knew Ituen as “Jon” and knew him to often be in the rear of 126 Coxwell Ave., where he stored his electric scooters. Miller advised police that two days before the stabbing, a man was looking for someone in the rear of 126 Coxwell Ave.

“This person complained at that time about the gospel radio,” said the facts. Miller turned over video surveillance to police that captured Wood visiting the rear of 126 Coxwell Ave. on July 25 at 5:36 p.m. and 6:34 p.m.

Wood’s social worker also received a note written by Wood on the morning of July 27 which addressed the noise from the balcony of 126 Coxwell Ave. In the note, Wood described feeling ‘suicidal’ and ‘murderous.’ One of the social worker’s colleagues informed police she observed Wood writing that note on the afternoon of July 26.

On the morning of the stabbing, a witness who was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher flagged down two officers driving along Coxwell Avenue in a marked police vehicle. After the officers exited their vehicle and entered the backyard area of 126 Coxwell Ave., they observed a white male, later identified as Wood, standing next to a Black male, later identified as Ituen.

Ituen was laying on the ground, motionless in a pool of blood.  A red knife was found next to the body. Wood was placed under arrest. During a search warrant, a red knife sheath was found in the right front pocket of his shorts.

Gospel music was playing from Ituen’s second-floor unit when police attended 126 Coxwell Ave.

It is agreed upon that Wood suffered from a number of mental health issues including chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), persistent depressive disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) with insight, avoidance personality disorder, border line personality disorder and abuse disorders associated with alcohol, cocaine, opioid’s and cannabis.

It is also agreed upon that Wood’s psychiatric symptoms were likely exacerbated by the use of substances.

Bovell pointed out that one of the psychiatrists who assessed Wood, Dr. Derek Pallandi, found that at the time of the offence, he was not responding to psychosis or psychotic symptoms. Bovell said he told the psychiatrist that he “exploded in a rage by a person who was driving me crazy,” saying it was driving him up and wall and believed Ituen should have been evicted and charged by police.

The Crown also said that Wood knew that what he did was wrong. “The doctor says he knew the legal and moral wrongfulness of his actions,” said Bovell.

“In the second assessment, he refers to what he did as a terrible thing. He recognizes the gravity of what he did,” said Bovell, who said rehabilitation, denunciation, deterrence and the protection of the public must be considered in imposing a period of parole ineligibility.

Defence lawyer Adele Monaco suggested a period of parole ineligibility of 12 years would be more appropriate.

“We heard from the doctor, the noise brought him back to his home life where his mother incessantly screamed at him,” said Monaco, telling court Wood had an abusive upbringing. “The noise, the gospel, sent him into a rage.

“I’m going to submit that those mental health conditions that were linked to his childhood had a causal effect on what happened.

“He was fearful of the public. His mental health issues exacerbated the way he did or did not interact with the public and he always had a pocketknife on him. Before you is a man who has lived a horrendously traumatic life. Certain memories are triggered by noise, light, screaming and gospel. This murder was committed out of anger.”

Ituen’s nephew, who filed a victim impact statement, called the murder “an egregious act” and said it has caused deep grief for the family.

Wood was a given a chance to address the court.

“July 27, 2023 was a terrible day,” he said in a soft voice reading from a small piece of paper. “One man had his life taken from him and another man lost his freedom,” Wood said. He blamed “government agencies that exist in order to prevent violent interactions” and told court he had often been a victim of violence himself.

Wood said “frustrative psychosis” was at play when he flew into a “murderous rage and there was no breathing space for sensibility and doing the right thing.”

The judge will sentence Wood next month.