A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the Calgary Court of King's Bench after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of a man who bludgeoned his mother with a boulder. Justice Robert Armstrong determined that further deliberation would be futile after the jury sent multiple notes indicating they were deadlocked.
The jury deliberated over parts of three days before informing the court they could not come to a consensus. Their final note stated, "We cannot reach a unanimous verdict." The central issue in the case was whether Alex Xu had the necessary intent for murder when he killed his mother, Alice (Jingying) Xu, on June 30, 2023.
Xu, 23, claimed he was so intoxicated on LSD that he could not form the intent to commit murder. He testified that he consumed two tabs of LSD the previous evening and was hallucinating when his parents took him to the Foothills Medical Centre due to concerns about a possible overdose. Xu left the emergency room, and his mother followed him across the street to nearby residences.
Between two houses, Xu took a large rock and repeatedly struck his mother in the head. He told jurors, "I looked back at her face and it was monstrously deformed in a spiral-like pattern," comparing the hallucination to images from the Japanese horror series Uzumaki. He described feeling "an immense visceral fear" and believing his mother was a demon about to consume his soul.
Defence counsel Dale Fedorchuk argued that Xu's perception of reality was distorted, making him unable to form the intent required for murder. However, Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner contended that Xu's testimony was a fabrication to mask his anger toward his mother. Faulkner noted that Xu confessed to two passing motorists, a 911 operator, and the first police officer on the scene that he had murdered his mother, without mentioning any demonic hallucinations. Body camera footage from the arresting officer showed no signs of impairment.
After the mistrial was declared, Fedorchuk indicated he would seek bail for Xu, who has been detained since his arrest shortly after the killing. A new trial date is scheduled to be set on May 22.
