Where's the knife? Defence asks jury to consider reasonable doubt in Craig Pope murder trial

Defence lawyer Randy Piercey wanted to hammer it home for the jury if nobody saw a stabbing, and police failed to find a knife, did the prosecutors really prove the case against Craig Pope beyond a reasonable doubt?

"There could be other explanations," Piercey said during closing arguments on Thursday."And if there could be other explanations, you have to find him not guilty."

On the flip side, Crown prosecutor Shawn Patten asked the jury to apply common sense to draw a reasonable conclusion.

Is it reasonable to believe Jonathan Collins fell on a knife and died? Is it reasonable to believe a third person that nobody saw could have inflicted the fatal wound? Or is it reasonable to find Pope stabbed Collins and hid the knife?

"The question for you is not what happened, but who did it," Patten told the jury. "And the evidence in this case points to one man. Craig Pope."

The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon. They'll have three options guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.

Witnesses, forensics link two men

What is not disputed is that Pope and Collins spent the day riding around in a taxi driven by Jeff Cromwell.

They met Pope's father, who gave his son $60. He watched, along with several nearby residents and passersby, as the two men began fighting.

"You can conclude Mr. Pope was there that day," Patten said. "It was Mr. Pope and only Mr. Pope who was in an altercation with Jonathan Collins."

Craig Pope intended for David Jonathan Collins to die that day.- Shawn Patten

Witnesses said Popeslapped the cab in anger, demanding Collins get out. His palm print was found on the taxi.

When they got out of the cab, peopledescribed Pope as the aggressor, whileCollins backedaway defensively.

As the two men moved off Alderberry Lane and onto Mundy Pond Road, they went out of sight for every witness watching the fight.

They came into view of two passersby, but neither saw the stabbing.

Pope returned to the cab after Collins hit the ground. Cromwell testified Pope told him to run Collins over.

"Craig Pope intended for David Jonathan Collins to die that day," Patten said. "Why? Because he was enraged over $60. Sixty dollars."

Did he confess?

Piercey used his closing remarks to bring up inconsistencies in witness testimony.

After Cromwell and Pope left the scene, they were pursued by Pope's father and a coworker driving in a cube van.

The coworker, Keith Doran, testified they pulled alongside the taxi and Pope told his father he stabbed Collins.

Piercey urged the jury to consider Dorantelling the preliminary hearing that he may have misheard Pope's alleged confession. Cromwell also didn't hear the exchange. Perhaps most damning, Piercey said, was that Dorandidn't tell police during an hour-long interview thatPope had admitted to the stabbing.

You're not hauling a knife out of ankle socks.- Randy Piercey

Another witness, Barry O'Keefe, had said Pope might have pulled a knife from his sock. O'Keefe flip-flopped on his testimony, prompting an agitated cross-examination by Piercey last week.

On Thursday, Piercey pointed to a photo book of Pope's clothes on the day of the stabbing. He was wearing ankle socks.

"You're not hauling a knife out of ankle socks," Piercey said.

Justice Vikas Khaladkar spent the better part of two hours instructing the jury on how to deliberate.

He told them to weigh the witness's testimony and decide what to consider factual including Doran'sassertion that Pope admitted to the crime.

Emotions were high for both families throughout the closing arguments, with members on both sides in tears.

Read more from this trial:

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador