Erick Buhr represents himself, asks jury to find him not guilty in grandmother’s death

Erick Buhr fired his lawyer before his conviction CTV’s Krista Simpson has some of the behind-the-scenes discussions in Buhr’s murder trial.

Erick Buhr, the man accused of killing his grandmother, Viola Erb, is now representing himself at his second degree murder trial.

The jury returned to the courtroom on Friday, where Justice Gerry Taylor informed them that Buhr would no longer be represented by Bruce Ritter.

“Erick Buhr has the right to continue his trial without a lawyer,” Taylor told the jury. “Do not try to guess why Erick Buhr is no longer represented by Mr. Ritter.”

The judge went on to say that the development has nothing to do with the eventual decision the jury will have to make on whether Buhr is guilty or not.

“It is not evidence. It has no place in your deliberations,” Taylor said.

The jury was last in court one week ago, when Buhr completed his cross-examination. He says he did not kill Erb. The 88-year-old was found badly injured on her kitchen floor on September 24, 2022. She was pronounced dead shortly after first responders arrived.

Buhr's closing address

During his closing address, Buhr asked the jury to find him not guilty of Erb’s death.

He reminded jurors that he is not required to prove he is innocent, but rather the crown must prove he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I am here to ask you to find that there is reasonable doubt, and that I am not guilty,” Buhr said.

Buhr has testified that on Sept. 24, 2022, the day of his grandmother’s death, he was in a wooded area behind the house for about 45 minutes before coming inside around 1:15 p.m. to find Erb on the kitchen floor, covered in blood.

The jury has heard his 911 call, made at 1:18 p.m.

“You can hear the sheer panic in my voice,” Buhr said.

He also pointed out that he was out of breath throughout the call, which he said is because he was exerting himself as he moved around the house. He previously testified he had been searching for intruders during the call, and then went upstairs to change his clothes and wash his hands.

Buhr also took issue with the crown’s suggestion that he called police to report the murder because he was wearing an ankle bracelet that tracked his movements, and could not leave without being detected.

Buhr told the jury that if he had killed his grandmother, there was no need for him to rush, and he would have done a better job doctoring the scene. He said he would have packed up his bags, cut off his ankle bracelet and fled in his vehicle.

Buhr also addressed the blood-stained jeans, t-shirt and socks that were found in his room. He said the blood got on his clothes as he was trying to help his grandmother.

“They were not hidden or destroyed,” he said. “They were not hidden because at the time I was changing I had absolutely no reason to hide them.”

Buhr admits he lied to police when he was asked whether he had changed his clothes before first responders arrived. It was a lie he repeated multiple times.

“The more questions they asked, the more I thought it was suspicious and the more I thought I had to continue with the lie,” he said.

Buhr also referenced photos of him, taken in the garage of the house in the hours after Erb’s death.

“There’s absolutely no swelling anywhere on my body because I did not kill her," he said.

One photo of his hands shows blood stains which Buhr claimed were from trying to help his grandmother, but also some nicks on his fingers. Buhr said the nicks were from doing work outdoors in the previous days.

Buhr also raised questions about testimony from the forensic pathologist, Dr. Linda Kocovski, who said that some black hairs were found on Erb’s neck and abdomen. Buhr said neither he nor his grandmother have black hair, and the hairs weren’t tested for DNA.

"Whose hair is it? We do not know,” Buhr said, saying that it could have been from a first responder, or from the killer. “But we simply do not know.”

Buhr said the crown has not suggested any motive as to why he would kill his grandmother.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I lied about my clothing. That is all,” he said.

Buhr finished his testimony focusing on the GPS evidence. Court has heard that his ankle monitor tracked his location once per minute.

Stephen Tan from Recovery Sciences, the company that operates the compliance monitoring program, told the jury that when the ankle bracelet is outside, it tends to be able to connect with more satellites than if it is indoors.

Buhr noted that in the GPS data provided to the court, the bracelet only ever connected with 8 to 10 satellites, even at a time when both sides agree Buhr was outdoors.

Buhr ended his closing saying, “If the GPS don’t fit, you must acquit.”

The crown’s closing address

Prosecutor Jennifer Caskie gave the crown’s closing address, saying, “This is a simple case.”

Caskie said Buhr was at the location of the murder at the time it was committed, he knew what the murderer knew, and he wore the murderer’s clothes.

Caskie started by addressing Buhr’s testimony, saying it should not be believed and cannot be true.

“Almost everything he said was contradicted by another piece of evidence,” Caskie said.

Caskie noted that no blood stains were found in Viola Erb’s bedroom, which Buhr claimed to have searched during his call to 911. Caskie said if he had, blood would have been found there, just as blood was found in Buhr’s bedroom, where he said he had changed after saying he realized he was “traipsing blood all over the place.”

Caskie also raised a comment Buhr made on the 911 call, when the operator asked if he had seen a weapon. Buhr replied, “No… I don’t think there was any weapons used.”

The crown said Buhr knew that because he had committed the crime.

Caskie said the stains on Buhr’s jeans include hundreds of spatter spots of Erb’s blood that don’t align with his testimony that they got there when he flicked blood off his hands two to four times.

“Viola’s blood became spattered on Erick Buhr’s jeans because he is the one that assaulted her.”

Caskie noted that Buhr lied about changing his clothes multiple times, even embellishing it five days later after he had been arrested, when he told a police detective someone must have put on his clothes and attacked his grandmother in order to frame him.

Buhr had testified that at that point he was trying to be a pain in the detective’s ass, as he was tired of the questioning.

Caskie said that sending police down a false alley is not what is expected from someone whose grandmother had been murdered by an unknown killer, and who wants to help find the murderer.

Caskie told the jury it’s the crown’s position that the evidence of Buhr’s guilt is overwhelming, noting that Buhr himself told first responders he hadn’t seen anyone else in the house, no one else had access to it, and there were no signs of forced entry or anything having been taken.

Caskie also called the GPS data “reliable evidence,” noting that while it doesn’t pinpoint locations down to the centimetre, it’s generally accurate. She cited examples including how Buhr’s known locations on police body camera footage match quite closely to what the GPS recorded for those times.

Caskie added it is inexplicable that the GPS became inaccurate during the exact time period when Buhr needed an alibi.

Caskie said the GPS data points from that afternoon put Buhr in the house for at least 20 minutes before the 911 call.

"The GPS in this case does fit, so you cannot acquit," Caskie countered.

Caskie also said that the photos of Buhr’s hands from the aftermath show injuries from hurting his grandmother.

"Erick Buhr assaulted Viola Erb. That's why he had fresh cuts to his knuckles."

Caskie ended the crown’s closing address by saying, “I would ask you to find Erick Buhr guilty of second degree murder.”

Next steps

Justice Gerry Taylor began giving the jury final instructions on Friday afternoon, and will continue on Monday morning.

After that, the jury will begin deliberations.

The judge noted that once deliberations begin, the law requires jurors to stay together until they reach a verdict.