 Patrick Kirk Barrett, 39, of Toronto. (Handout)
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TORONTO — A jury on Thursday found devout Christian Patrick Barrett, 41, guilty of second-degree murder in the bizarre bludgeoning death of his girlfriend in May 2010.
The jury reached its verdict late at night after less than a day of deliberations.
In her closing address to the jury, Crown attorney Jill Cameron said Barrett "knew what he was doing" when he used a heavy industrial hammer to repeatedly hit Lucita Charles, 27, in the head, "the most vulnerable part of her body."
"Barrett wasn't in some uncontrollable state of mind — he didn't hit, push, punch or kick her," Cameron said, holding the heavy hammer in her hand.
Instead, Barrett, who was lying beside her on the bed, walked into the kitchen, pulled out a weapon and then chose to attack the half-asleep woman with repeated blows to the head, Cameron said.
Barrett, who admitted inflicting the horrific injuries, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.
After the slaying, Barrett picked through his Bible and neatly tore two pages, one of which stated: "That which is crooked cannot be made straight."
Then he stabbed those two pages to her chest.
Charles is survived by her young son who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Earlier, Charles told Barrett that if she was pregnant, she would have an abortion.
Rage alone is no defence to murder, agreed defence lawyer Peter Bawden. But rage, in combination with other circumstances such as Barrett's religious ferocity, can raise a reasonable doubt about whether Barrett, in his own mind, intended to kill Charles, Bawden said.
Judge Nola Garton will determine on Nov. 13 how many years — between 10 and 25 — Barrett must spend in prison before he can seek parole.
