The jury in the trial of a Calgary man charged with murdering his mother has been given an extended break before hearing final arguments in the case. Defence counsel Dale Fedorchuk closed his case on Wednesday after calling a police detective to testify about suspected drugs seized from the home of Alex (Aixin) Xu.
Police testimony on drug evidence
Detective Brad Scheuerman testified that he sent the remains of a package of tabs for testing. “It came back as LSD,” Scheuerman said. He noted that two of the 25 tabs were missing. However, under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner, Scheuerman acknowledged he could not determine whether the missing tabs also contained LSD. He also could not specify the potency of the drug. “The analysis just said it contained LSD,” he told Faulkner.
Xu's testimony about hallucinations
On Tuesday, Xu testified that he was under the influence of LSD after consuming those tabs and experiencing hallucinations when he fatally assaulted his mother, Alice (Jingying) Ai, between two homes across from the Foothills Medical Centre. The attack occurred shortly after his parents had taken him to the hospital, fearing he had overdosed. “I looked … at her face and it was monstrously deformed in a spiral-like pattern,” Xu told jurors. “That’s what my mind perceived, like a demonic entity had just come out of nowhere and was going to eat my soul.”
Charge and next steps
Xu, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in the June 30, 2023, death of his mother, who was bludgeoned with a large rock. After Fedorchuk closed his case, Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Armstrong instructed jurors to take the remainder of the week off while he and the lawyers prepare final instructions and submissions. The judge said jurors will hear both sides' final arguments and his instructions on Monday before beginning deliberations.
