Two men found guilty of manslaughter for Maffeo Sutton Park stabbing

Evidence against the pair included video surveillance footage from neighbouring properties, eyewitness testimony from those in the park the night of the stabbing and an interaction with a trio of people in a nearby parkade after the stabbing.

After the verdict was read in court, Fred’s mother Cindy was, at times, overcome with emotion.

“We need more Fred Parsons’ in this world, not less,” she told NanaimoNewsNOW outside the courtroom. “Fred was such a good person, a helper person.”

Prosecutor Nick Barber said diligent police work was the key in getting a conviction, with evidence collected from the scene and surrounding area.

“They were able to connect the dots for us and provide all the surveillance video and the various on the ground exhibits like the DNA results and that kind of thing. We just had to put the pieces together, but it was hard police work that got us there.

The pair will next appear in court on Aug. 19 to fix a date for sentencing.

Various post-conviction reports will be done to assist the sentencing process, which could impact the length of sentences suggested by the Crown and defence.

Harrison, who has remained in custody since charges were laid, was escorted out of court by staff back to jail, while Bell left the courthouse with his family following the verdict.

He’s lived under house arrest since late 2022, due largely to having no prior criminal record.

A day following the verdict, Harrison’s lawyer Bobby Movassaghi, told NanaimoNewsNOW the events leading up to and including Parsons’ death were “very regrettable.”

“Mr. Harrison completely regrets what happened,” Movassaghi said, adding what happened to Parsons was a tragedy.

“Bear-spraying is one thing, but then the stabbing afterwards was something completely beyond what Mr. Harrison was expecting, it was an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Movassaghi said.

He estimated the sentencing process to determine Harrison and Bell’s punishment would occur in the mid to late fall.

Court heard guilty verdicts from a 11-member jury on Tuesday, Aug. 6 for Mark Harrison and Aiden Bell for their roles in a September 2022 stabbing at Maffeo Sutton Park. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Juror’s instructions
Justice Robin Baird offered the jury instructions on Tuesday morning, outlining the arguments presented from both sides.

Included in his information were details on an encounter Bell, Harrison and his girlfriend had with a woman and her two friends in a downtown parkade near the park the night of the incident.

The trio were seen leaving the area on video surveillance, then a witness who knew the girlfriend spotted them in the building’s upper level.

“She says she saw two young men and a young woman,” Baird said. “One of the young men said ‘we just stabbed someone’. The young woman and [the witness]’s friend…appeared to know each other and…took a picture of herself with the other girl.”

The photo was eventually retrieved from social media, with the witness identifying a man in the background of the photo as the one who admitted to the stabbing.

Crown counsel argued it was Harrison, while defence said the witness’s description of hair type and colour didn’t match the men.

Baird also allowed parts of a formal police statement Harrison’s girlfriend made to RCMP roughly three weeks after the incident.

The woman, who cannot be identified, failed to appear to testify in the trial despite being under subpoena.

In the statement, Baird said the girlfriend told police she was with Bell and Harrison in the park the night of the incident, with the trio walking to the waterfront, encountering another group of three people at the playground and an altercation occurring.

She said in her statement a “ginger-haired male with a beard was injured” and bear spray was used.

Baird was explicit with the jury to weigh the statement appropriately with other evidence collected, noting the statement was not sworn to by the woman or collected under oath.

He said defence did not have the opportunity to cross-examine, nor were jurors able to see her demeanor while testifying.

“I wish to make it clear that just because I ruled admissable the aspects of [the girlfriend’s] statement…it doesn’t mean that what she said is true or accurate, that is for you to decide.”

Other portions of the statement were ruled inadmissible by Baird for a variety of reasons, including relevance.

Crime tape surrounded sections of Maffeo Sutton Park following the stabbing death of Fred Parsons. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Closing Arguments
During closing arguments presented on Friday, Aug. 2, Crown counsel highlighted video surveillance and the sequence of events surrounding Parsons’ death as key evidence against Harrison and Bell.

Prosecutor Nick Barber said while no video of the attack itself existed, surrounding footage was more than enough to prove Bell and Harrison were there.

Further evidence including witness testimony indicated, according to Barber, the pair and others fled the scene as soon as police arrived and both Bell and Harrison share the responsibility for Parsons’ death.

In separate defence arguments, attorney for Bell, Gloria Ng, said evidence presented didn’t implicate her client nor what each suspect was accused of.

She highlighted inconsistent witness statements on the description of attackers, including testimony from Parsons’ girlfriend who said she saw a “small boy lunge at Fred”.

Harrison is roughly seven inches shorter than Bell, while an underage boy arrested but later released the night of the attack is shorter than Harrison.

Ng also said there was nothing conclusive to determine how Parsons’ blood ended up on Bell’s jacket, suggesting it could have transferred in many other ways.

Harrison’s attorney, Bobby Movassaghi conceded his client was in the park the night of the stabbing, but again pointed to no “direct evidence…as to what happened in the park”.

Movassaghi also said no witnesses identified Harrison as the person who stabbed Parsons, and a key Crown witness failed to show up in court to testify as scheduled.

Harrison’s earlier conduct towards a security guard, who called police just prior to the stabbing, didn’t constitute him using bear spray or stabbing Parsons, Movassaghi argued.

“There’s no evidence that at any point in time that night, that Jayden (Harrison) even pulled out a knife or pulled out the bear spray,” Movassaghi told court on Friday.

At the time of Parsons’ death, Nanaimo RCMP stated a small group of people were approached by another group of young people when a confrontation broke out late in the evening at Maffeo Sutton Park.

Bear spray was used towards the group, likely contributing to some inconsistencies in witness statements.

Harrison originally faced a second-degree murder charge, while Bell was charged with a pair of weapons offences.

Charges against the pair were adjusted in November 2022 as a result of the continuing investigation.

Harrison has remained in custody since his arrest, based on a prior criminal history, however Bell was granted bail but was required to live under house arrest.

The first day of the manslaughter trial was on July 22 in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo, where jurors were shown video surveillance footage of the night in question.

Day two of the trial featured an RCMP forensic analyst who tested multiple items for evidence of blood, including the suspect’s clothing, and items found at the crime scene.

On Tuesday, July 30 court heard from the girlfriend of Parsons who described in detail the night of the attack, saying how her group of friends just wanted to play on the playground when they were confronted by three people, including Bell and Harrison before the fatal attack.

Aiden Bell enters court on Tuesday, Aug. 6. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Two men found guilty of manslaughter for Maffeo Sutton Park stabbing

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