Warning: This story contains graphic details.

The trial of a Lower Post, B.C., man accused of killing Anthony Primozic in Haines Junction wrapped up this week, with the crown and defence making final submissions on March 18.

The Yukon Supreme Court trial, which spanned three weeks, overlapped with the fourth anniversary of Primozic’s death. At least 40 people crowded into the Whitehorse courtroom to hear final submissions, some travelling from Haines Junction for the trial.

Primozic was 25 years old when he died. Boss was 20.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Boss ended Primozic’s life by inflicting “multiple blunt and sharp force injuries to his head, neck and chest” around 3 o’clock in the morning on March 9, 2022. Primozic was found dead in his bedroom in the basement of his mother’s house around 7 p.m. the same day.

An account of the night Primozic died was detailed in the agreed statement of facts and read to the court on the first day of the trial.

Boss was charged with 2nd-degree murder in 2023 but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The former charge carries a mandatory life sentence, while the latter does not have a minimum sentence.

During defence submissions last week, Boss’s lawyer Jennifer Budgell brought three expert witnesses – a toxicologist and two forensic psychiatrists – to estimate Boss’s level of intoxication the night Primozic died. Based on the evidence available, including witness accounts of Boss earlier that night and video surveillance footage of him, all three concluded that Boss was seriously impaired.

Budgell argued that Boss was so intoxicated his impulse control and ability to foresee consequences were impaired. She said the attack seemed to come “out of nowhere,” as Boss ran into Primozic by chance that night and he had no motive to hurt him.

Because of this, Budgell argued that Boss was not capable of the intention to kill or harm Primozic. Intention is one of the elements the Crown must prove to convict someone of 2nd-degree murder.

Crown lawyer Howard Piafsky disagreed with Budgell, submitting that the attack was too violent for intoxication to be an excuse. Piafsky called it a “brutal and sustained attack,” submitting that Primozic was hit over the head with a guitar, suffered more than 100 puncture wounds from his face to his lower abdomen and had pressure marks on his neck.

Primozic’s injuries suggest a two- or three-stage attack, Piafsky argued, which suggests the intent to harm. He said Boss probably was intoxicated, but argued he wasn’t too drunk to recognize this attack could be fatal, considering how violent it was.

Piafsky said the court was forced to rely on hypothetical estimations of Boss’s intoxication, because Boss did not testify at trial. He was not interviewed by any of the three expert witnesses. During the trial, Boss wore a black suit and took notes on a yellow legal pad.

At the end of the trial, Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan addressed the crowd in the gallery.

“This has been a very sad case,” Duncan said. “A difficult case to listen to for the people in the gallery – painful, for some – and I just want to say I appreciate the careful attention that has been paid.”

Duncan said she would try not to delay her decision. The decision date will be scheduled at the end of the month.