By Julie Chadwick

Defense wraps case as Nanaimo mill shooting trial sees emotional video

Sep 23, 2016 | 9:23 PM

NANAIMO — In the final day of the defense’s case, Kevin Addison appeared to wipe away tears as his lawyer showed the jury videotaped statements his mother made to police on the day of the shooting.

Lorraine Addison died about six months ago, Judge Robin Baird explained, and though she was not cross-examined and was not under oath, her entire interview with police would be played for the jury so they might be offered insight into the mindset of her son at the time.

Kevin is charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in relation to a workplace shooting that took place at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo on April 30, 2014.

At approximately 7 p.m., after her son Kevin was taken into custody by police at the scene of the shooting, Lorraine was questioned by Nanaimo RCMP.

Kevin’s father died on a hunting trip when he was 29, Lorraine said. “I know Kevin has felt guilty about that because he figures if he had been there, that wouldn’t have happened,” she said. “He’s never been the same since.”

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Depression runs in the family, she added.

“It’s in our family – my mum, my sister, myself. All my cousins. If they’re not depressed they’re on drugs or they’re alcoholics. And that’s all of them,” she said.

Kevin stated that though he was prescribed Celexa by a family doctor months before the shooting, he opted to not take the medication because he didn’t like pills and thought he could deal with his problems on his own.

During the interview, the RCMP officer asked Lorraine if she would record a message for Kevin, which she agreed to do. He then gave her an iPad and then left her alone in the corner of the room.

“Hi Kev. It’s Mom. How are you,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’m so worried about you. I hope you’re okay. I’m sorry everything had to come to this for you. I hope you’re okay and you know that we all stand behind you and we love you so much. That’s about all I have to say. Talk to you later, bye.”

Outside the courthouse, Marlene Lunn, wife of mill worker Michael Lunn, said that she understood Lorraine Addison’s torment.

“I could feel for her. I’m a mother too. I get it. I get it,” she said.

It was a surprise to their whole family that Kevin took the stand, she said, but it did answer some questions.

“I wanted to know if my husband actually saw who did it,” she said, tears in her eyes. “Just to know that they made eye contact. And uh, my husband didn’t have a chance. That was heartbreaking.”

During his testimony yesterday, Kevin said that Michael Lunn turned and looked at him just before he raised the gun and shot him. Michael died on the scene.

The courthouse has been regularly packed with friends, family and observers and the final day of the defense’s case was no different, with standing room-only crowds, including Michael Lunn’s granddaughter Paige Lunn.

“He was my Grandpa but he was more like my Dad. He was a fantastic father figure for me, he was there constantly as I grew up, and he was the one man that I constantly could rely on. He was the one man that I ever really truly loved, completely,” she said. “There was no one like him, no one like him. And there will never be anyone like him.”

Marlene Lunn said that as the trial winds to a close she is ready to start living.

“It’s been two years, four months and 23 days and I tell you, it’s been an ordeal for me that length of time,” she said. Commenting on the standing room-only crowds that have been a staple of the proceedings,Marlene said the tragedy has “changed Nanaimo’s whole perspective. We were a really innocent town and this has really changed everything. I don’t ever want Nanaimo to forget what happened here. Ever.”

The court will reconvene on Monday at 2 p.m. to hear the closing arguments, and then the case should be in the hands of the jury sometime on Tuesday.