Justice Thomas Kirchner said there was reasonable doubt that Mohamed Daud Omar had the specific intention of killing his housemate on the morning of Feb. 6, 2022.
A Victoria man has been found guilty of aggravated assault — but not attempted murder — for stabbing his housemate over a car-damage dispute three years ago.
Justice Thomas Kirchner said there was reasonable doubt that Mohamed Daud Omar had the specific intention of killing his housemate on the morning of Feb. 6, 2022.
He did, however, find Omar guilty of attempting to break and enter with the intent to commit another offence. That charge stemmed from an attempt to get into his housemate’s room.
The Crown is seeking a six-year sentence for aggravated assault and five years for the break-and-enter attempt, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
Omar is currently serving a life sentence after he was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder in an unrelated case last year.
With respect to the Feb. 6, 2022, incident, Kirchner said Omar was the victim of an unprovoked and aggressive attack in his bedroom when housemate Sunday Aro confronted him about a damaged car belonging to another housemate.
After being pushed to the floor and punched in the face, Omar went downstairs, with Aro following him, he said.
Omar obtained a kitchen knife and proceeded to stab Aro twice — once on the stairs, and another time two or three minutes later near the main entrance with another knife, after the first one broke.
Omar was the aggressor in both stabbings, Kirchner said, adding that two witnesses heard Omar threaten to kill Aro on the second floor before the stabbings.
However, Kirchner said those threats may have been made in the heat of the moment and could not be used as sufficient evidence for attempted murder.
Evidence collected at the scene shows that there were larger knives available that Omar could have taken from a knife block in the kitchen, he noted.
“I would think a person with a specific intention to kill would take a larger knife,” he said.
Omar, 30, had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, aggravated assault and break-and-enter related to the incident.
He represented himself in court and did not testify, call evidence or make a substantive closing argument during the trial.
However, before delivering his judgment, Kirchner said he considered potential arguments Omar could have made around self-defence and intoxication.
Omar likely did not act in self-defence as he approached Aro on the stairs with a knife to stab him, and later tried to break down Aro’s bedroom door while holding a second knife with the intent to continue hurting Aro, Kirchner said.
There is “scant” evidence that Omar could have been intoxicated at the time of the stabbings, he said.
None of the officers who responded to the incident said they noticed Omar acting drunk or high, he said.
A sentencing decision is expected Thursday morning.
Just under a month after Omar was released on conditions after the Feb. 6, 2022, stabbing, he killed 30-year-old John Dickinson outside a downtown bar.
Justice Anthony Saundersdecided in that casethat Omar should serve 13 years before he is eligible to apply for parole.
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