(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

911 CALL FROM MURDERER: "THIS HAPPENED JUST BECAUSE I... WANTED IT TO."

KAMLOOPS - A judge has accepted the guilty plea of a Kamloops man who stabbed his father 31 times in a fit of rage over money.

But before Jaipreet Toor, 46, could plead guilty to killing his 79-year-old father in March 2012, he had to fire two lawyers and argue with judges to get his way. After questioning from B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan yesterday, she concluded she had no reason not to accept his plea. 

"He, in my view, has the cognitive capacity to conduct his own defence," Donegan said. "In short, there is no evidence for this court to suggest that Mr. Toor was suffering a disease of the mind at the time of the offence."

Donegan conducted a plea inquiry yesterday before accepting his guilty plea today. Donegan said the inquiry is standard procedure, but was drawn out to ensure Toor was informed and voluntarily entered the plea because he represents himself.

Crown prosecutor Chris Balison told the court that Toor stabbed his father 31 times, called 911 and told dispatch: "This happened just because I fucking wanted it to."
Balison said Toor killed Harsewak Singh Toor outside their North Kamloops home because he was angry at him for not giving him money and was tired of being told to get a job.

Toor agreed with all elements of the Crown's case, and Donegan said Toor provided no defences such as intoxication, provocation or self defence. He has a history of depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and alcohol abuse, however he did not request to be deemed not criminally responsible.

"He did not wish to raise that issue, he did not wish to seek an assessment," Donegan said. "The court will accept Mr. Toor's guilty plea."

The mandatory sentence for second degree murder is life imprisonment with 10 to 25 years of parole ineligibility. Balison is seeking 12 to 14 years of ineligibility. He called Toor's offence 'savage' and noted his criminal record that includes multiple assaults. One assault was against his father in 2011, prior to his death — with his most recent assault conviction this past week.

"Mr. Toor plead guilty to an assault of a prison guard at the (Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre) while on remand for this offence," Balison said.

Toor told the courts he moved with his family from India to Canada in 1985. He worked retail in Surrey and was married in 1991 before coming to Kamloops. He was divorced in 2006 and has a teenage son from another relationship who he doesn't speak with. He moved in with his parents following the divorce, lost his job and said anger and aggression began building towards a criminal 'career' beginning in 2008.

According to court documents, Toor's criminal record began in 2008 when he was found guilty of impaired driving. He was later found guilty of assault with a weapon for an offence in June 2009. He was convicted for assaulting his father in March 2011 and pleaded guilty to mischief under $5,000 in May 2011.

"This is the life of a person who fell apart starting in 2007 to second degree murder charge of his father in 2011," Toor said. "I had time to reflect on the whole thing when I was sent to the KRCC."

His mother's health has suffered significantly since her son killed her husband.

Toor asked for the minimum of 10 years, saying his time in custody provided him with a 'normal' life that has changed him.

"At this point, I don't have anger and aggression towards my dad," he said. "But on the same note, I have guilt in my heart that I did kill him."

Donegan will provide her sentencing decision next Wednesday morning.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013