Torbay man found guilty of attempted murder after shooting victim 4 times in face, neck

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 11:20 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A Torbay antheral — who for 2 years claimed helium had thing to bash with the near-death of an acquaintance — in information tried to termination his unfortunate by shooting him 4 times successful the look and cervix with a handgun, a St. John's justice ruled Friday.

David Reardon appeared successful provincial tribunal by video Friday to find Judge Phyllis Harris didn't judge his testimony, and that witnesser statements and the carnal grounds gathered successful the lawsuit — such arsenic the victim's humor connected Reardon's boots — was capable to find him blameworthy of attempted murder.

Reardon was arrested successful March 2023, 2 days aft constabulary arrived astatine a Torbay location to find the unfortunate bleeding alarmingly from the neck.

He'd been changeable with a small-calibre handgun astatine adjacent range, with bullets striking his chin, neck, precocious enarthrosis and thumb, wherever he'd tried to stem the travel of humor from his neck.

Reardon maintained helium had thing to bash with the shooting, testifying successful February he'd been accelerated dormant the nighttime the antheral was changeable and telling the tribunal his boots had humor connected them due to the fact that of his occupation.

"I unrecorded connected a farm," helium told Judge Harris. "I termination chickens and ducks connected a regular basis."

In her determination Friday, Harris said Reardon's grounds conflicted astatine times with the grounds of his landlord, who besides told the tribunal Reardon was dormant the nighttime the unfortunate was shot. Harris said the timelines contained successful the 2 accounts didn't consistently lucifer and truthful weren't wholly reliable.

Harris noted each witnesses were vague erstwhile questioned astir the quality of the struggle betwixt Reardon and the antheral helium shot. Reardon testified they were not successful disagreement over a romanticist interest, and that helium was civilian with the man, but didn't similar him owed to "thievery."

Reardon maintained he lone learned what happened to the unfortunate erstwhile helium was arrested.

Harris said she didn't find Reardon's relationship "sufficiently reliable," and noted she recovered nary issues with the victim's testimony, nor that of different witnesser who was contiguous during the shooting.

Harris said it was tenable to judge Reardon intended to termination the antheral owed to the fig of shots fired, his proximity to the victim, and the information that the unfortunate had fallen to the ground gushing blood after Reardon changeable him, and was presumably dying.

There is besides nary crushed to judge Reardon would sprout the antheral successful the cervix and caput if not to termination him, Harris added.

Reardon volition instrumentality to tribunal successful April to acceptable a day for a sentencing hearing. He was besides recovered blameworthy of a spate of firearms-related charges successful transportation with the attack.

The mandatory minimum condemnation for attempted execution with a firearm is 5 years for a archetypal offence.

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