A Calgary judge is trying to decide if the man accused of killing a peace officer in 2012 is guilty of murder or not criminally responsible for his actions.
Trevor Kloschinsky, 49, was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of MD of Foothills Peace Officer Rod Lazenby on August 10, 2012.
Lazenby responded to a complaint at a rural property earlier in the day and then was dropped off in his SUV at a Calgary Police Service District Office in medical distress.
He later died from his injuries and Kloschinsky was arrested and charged the next day.
Kloschinsky admitted, in an agreed statement of facts, to killing Lazenby but his lawyer claims he was suffering a mental disturbance and was not criminally responsible for his actions at the time.
A judge is now deciding if he is guilty as charged or if he should be found not criminally responsible and is reviewing a videotaped interview between the accused and RCMP.
The interview was conducted just hours after Lazenby was dropped off at the district office and in it Kloschinsky states he had "caught the man who had been stealing his dogs."
Rod Lazenby’s sister, Robyn Halbert, was in court and read a statement to the media on behalf of the family saying…
We have tried to find the right words to describe how Rod’s murder has impacted our lives but there really are no adequate words to describe the pain, anger and despair that we are feeling.
We never know what sight or sound will trigger a memory and while we have so many fond and very proud memories of Rod, his sense of humour, the stories he would tell, his devotion to his work and the love of his family. The reality is, is that Rod is gone. He did not deserve to be taken from us so cruelly.
With the last 28 months I have watched as our family has struggled with their pain, anger and grief. Sometimes the feeling of despair has become oppressive, overwhelming. As Rod’s siblings, we can’t imagine the depth of his children’s pain or the degree of our mother’s heartache.
The trial has answered some of our questions and given us more questions. We continue to hope that justice will be served but we all know that it will not relieve our pain.
We are all so thankful for the support given to us from family, friends and fellow law enforcement officers. Your continued support helps us believe that Rod will not be forgotten.
We will continue to ask questions to push for change so that this does not happen to another family.
Both the prosecutor and defence delivered final arguments on Wednesday and Justice Hughes is expected to reach a decision on Thursday.
