‘It’s suspicious’ but man acquitted of indignity to a body

Almost three years after being charged with committing an indignity to a dead body, a Six Nations man has been acquitted of the offense due to the unreliable testimony of drug users.

“The evidence of all the witnesses is not reliable enough for me to determine beyond a reasonable doubt what happened,” said Justice Robert Gee as he acquitted Philip James Martin, 31.

Martin found the body of Willard House in his trailer on July 25, 2020 and didn’t call police.

Instead, said Assistant Crown attorney Jeff Mazin, he zipped the dead man’s sleeping bag around him, concealed his body with blankets and a cushion and talked to friends about “dumping” the corpse.

“As to why he didn’t call police, Mr. Martin said he didn’t know why and he ‘did a lot of dope’ that day,” Mazin said.

“He said he sat and smoked a lot of drugs with (a friend) after discovering the body.”

Mazin laid out a case for disbelieving Martin, noting he had failed to comply with release orders regarding previous charges and was “grasping at straws” for an explanation of his behavior.

“He didn’t want Mr. House’s body to be discovered in his trailer,” Mazin argued, noting that Martin’s drug-using friends tested he had asked for their help in obtaining a truck to dump something.

Because the body wasn’t ever moved, the charge against Martin was later amended to attempt to commit an indignity against a human body.

When police were finally called to the Sixth Line trailer about suspicious activity and a possible overdose, an officer tested he found House’s body covered with multiple blankets, sleeping bags and a cushion that had to be removed before they could see there was a human body on the bed.

Gee said the evidence of both Martin and his friends, who said he wanted them to bring over a truck, suffered from “flaws”.

Evidence presented to show Martin called his friend wasn’t clear and Martin’s brother testified he was with him for part of the day in question where he was supposed to have been calling for the truck.

“It’s suspicious,” said Gee, “but suspicion doesn’t equate to guilt or proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Martin’s version of events is equally as plausible as the Crown’s and I can’t say for certain what happened or which version of events is the proper one.”

But, Gee agreed that Martin convicted himself of breaching release orders, as he tested about leaving his home several times leading up to and including the day of House’s death, even though he was under an order to not go out unless he was with a surety .

Gee sentenced him to time served of 57 days.

Previously, charges from 2019 were withdrawn or dismissed but, at the end of 2022, Martin was given a sentence of 90 days of weekend jail for three breaches of release order and driving while prohibited.

In February, Martin was acquitted of charges of assault and forcible confinement but given a suspended sentence on driving while prohibited and breaching release orders.

In 2013, Martin was sentenced to six years in prison after he was driving drunk and in a horrific accident that killed two Ohsweken young people and injured three others, on Third Line Road on Aug. 29, 2010.

While on bail for that offence, Martin was again arrested for impaired driving after being found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle.

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