The Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled a new trial will be needed in the murder case involving Byron Spence.

Spence was convicted of first degree murder in the death of his half brother Jonah Trapper in a decision handed down September 2014.

The incident in question happened at a Timmins home back in October 2009.

However, the appeals court says due to “errors in the trial judge’s jury instructions on the intent for murder, a new trial is required.”

“There is no doubt that the appellant killed Jonah,” reads the court document, “During an interview with the police, the appellant admitted shooting Jonah, but claimed that he only meant to scare him when he fired the shotgun.”

“In the same interview, he suggested that he struggled with mental health issues.”

The appeals court goes on to say that if the defense or Crown identified the issues with Justice Robert A. Riopelle’s instructions, ordering a new trial “may have been avoided.”

The filing back in May says Spence’s version of events would support a lesser charge of manslaughter. In that document, it states Spence was trying to scare Trapper “by shooting at a computer.”

Up until now, Spence has been serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The appeal document concludes by saying “I would allow the appeal and order a new trial on the charge of first degree murder.”

CLICK HERE to see the full appeal and decision.

Filed under: Local News