Sandra Wight was in the courtroom when Justin Campbell was convicted of killing his grandmother, Eva BanfieldPublished Nov 07, 2025Last updated 2 hours ago6 minute readJustin Campbell was convicted of the first-degree murder of his grandmother, Eva Banfield, in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAMArticle contentEditor’s note: Story contains details that may be disturbing to some readersTHIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentIt was the verdict Sandra Wight had hoped for.Article contentArticle contentHer great nephew Justin Campbell, 35, was convicted by a jury of the first-degree murder of her sister and his grandmother, Eva Banfield, in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.Article contentIt took the jury just under an hour and half of deliberations to reach the verdict.Article contentArticle contentthe jury also found Campbell guilty of theft over $5,000 for stealing money from his grandmother’s bank accounts. Money he used to buy drugs.Article contentCampbell killed his grandmother sometime between Aug. 30 and Sept. 7, 2023.Article contentThe Crown has said that the last day she was alive was Sept. 1, 2023, and that Campbell killed her after the two shared a meal together in her Deer Lake apartment.Article contentHe choked her while she was doing the dishes, and then wrapped a towel and plastic wrap around her head, wrapped her body in a blanket, and hid it under her bed.Article contentIn the days that followed he sent messages to family and friends saying she was out of town and had forgotten her phone, an effort to buy himself some time.Article content Sandra Wight was feeling relieved and happy that the man who killed her sister, Eva Banfield, was convicted of first degree murder in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. Banfield’s grandson, Justin Campbell, was charged following her murder in September 2023. Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAMArticle content‘I thought they arrested the wrong person’Article contentWight was one of the people he messaged. She testified during the trial.Article contentOutside the courtroom after the verdict was read, Wight said she was like a second mother to Banfield.Article contentArticle contentWight said their mother died when she was 15 and Banfield was six.Article contentAs sisters, they were close.Article content“We never made appointments to see one another. If I was going to Deer Lake for something I would drop in and see her,” she said. Banfield would do the same.Article content“Just natural sisterly things,” she said.Article contentShe said Banfield was a born-again Christian who liked to visit.Article contentShe had health issues, including rheumatoid arthritis, but was generally positive.Article content“I don’t know if I would have had her courage,” said Wight.Article contentWight said the two years since Banfield’s death have been hard and she was starting to feel a bit better.Article content“But then again, I knew that this was coming up,” she said of the trial.Article content“I was nervous, not of going in the courtroom and testifying, but of seeing him again, knowing that it was premeditated.”Article contentWight said when Campbell messaged her that his grandmother had gone to visit a friend in Jackson’s Arm and left her phone home, she never thought it wasn’t true.Article contentShe knew Banfield had visited her friend, Mildred Day, before and Day had been at Wight’s home.Article contentWhen Wight found out her sister was dead, and her great-nephew had been arrested, she was shocked.Article content“I thought they arrested the wrong person, to be honest with you. I guess it’s like you’re watching it on TV, you can’t believe that it’s happening.Article content“After when you find out that this was all planned, he was trying to keep me and other friends away from her I totally switched.”Article contentThat’s when she broke down.Article contentWight said she’s not only lost a sister but also a nephew.Article contentThe family thought Campbell was heavily under the influence of drugs when he killed Banfield.Article content“But he wasn’t, no he wasn’t,” she said.Article contentVerdict was expectedArticle contentCrown attorney Brenda Duffy said the verdict was the outcome she and co-counsel Kate Ashton had been expecting based on the evidence.Article content“We just hope that this verdict brings closure to Eva Banfield’s family,” said Duffy.Article contentCampbell’s sentencing hearing has been set for March 18, 2026. The mandatory sentence for first-degree murder is life imprisonment with no parole for 25 years.Article contentArticle contentJustin Campbell has been convicted of the first-degree murder of his grandmother, Eva Banfield. The jury returned its verdict in the Supreme Court of NL in Corner Brook on Friday evening after about two hours of deliberations. pic.twitter.com/NCJKzqwLEA— Diane Crocker (@WS_DianeCrocker) November 7, 2025Article contentCrown’s submissionArticle contentEarlier Friday, Duffy said in the Crown’s submission to the jury that Campbell should be convicted of first-degree murder. He needed money for drugs and knew his grandmother would never give it to him. He thought about stealing her bank card but has said if she found out he had done drugs she would tell their landlord, and he’d get kicked out.Article contentBanfield lived in an apartment on the top floor of an Upper Nicolsville Road residence. Campbell lived in the apartment beneath her.Article contentDuffy said Campbell knew if he wanted to smoke crack he’d have to kill his grandmother. It’s something he thought about doing in the week before the murder.Article contentHe told police the devil was in his head telling him to do it and that it was all because of drugs and money.Article contentDuffy said Campbell put his plan into effect after the supper they shared. He went up behind Banfield and put his arm around her neck and choked her. Eventually he put the towel and Saran Wrap on her face.Article contentArticle contentShe said he used the towel and Saran Wrap because she was still gasping and his arms were getting tired.Article contentAfter she was dead, he left her body on the floor and used her phone to access her bank account and transfer the money from one of her accounts to another and then to his own bank account. He then withdrew cash from a bank machine and bought drugs.Article content“Justin Campbell’s simple plan had worked.”Article contentDuffy said Campbell admitted to police that he intended to kill his grandmother.Article contentShe said the question the jury needed to consider was whether Banfield’s death was first-degree murder.Article contentShe said the judge will tell them that first-degree murder is both a planned and deliberate intention to take a human life.Article content“The plan does not need to be complex; it can be simple, and very importantly it does not need to include the details of the how, the when or the where,” she said.Article content“He should be found guilty of first-degree murder,” said Duffy.Article content Transcripts of Justin Campbell’s first police interview sit waiting to be handed out to the jury while the Crown prepares to show the video of that interview during the Deer Lake man’s trial in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. Photo by Diane Crocker/THE TELEGRAMArticle contentDefence says it wasn’t first-degree murderArticle contentDefence lawyer Jonathan Regan told the jury that they had heard a lot of evidence but what they didn’t hear was him or co-counsel Olivia Genge ask a lot of questions of the witnesses.Article contentHe said the evidence heard is largely true, and it’s largely a thing that Justin Campbell admits.Article contentHe said Campbell did send the messages to attempt to mislead people about his grandmother’s whereabouts; the bank records are accurate, and he admits transferring the money.Article contentRegan said these are things Campbell did after the murder had been committed.Article contentHe said Campbell did admit to police that he killed his grandmother.Article contentHe cautioned the jury to be careful with the evidence of Justin Young and Holly Rubia, who reported Campbell’s crime to the police, because of their admitted intoxication by crack cocaine and alcohol.Article contentArticle contentRegan said Campbell expressed regret and should be believed that he was remorseful.Article contentHe said the Crown has spoken about first-degree murder and that it must be found beyond a reasonable doubt to be planned and deliberate.Article contentHe said when to comes to whether or not the murder of Banfield was planned and deliberate they should look to Campbell’s own words when he tells police in a recorded statement that he had not really thought about killing his grandmother in the week leading up to it and that it wasn’t premeditated murder.Article contentHe said the thought did come in Campbell’s mind but thought coming in your mind is not sufficient for planning and deliberation.Article contentRegan said it was murder, but it was not first-degree murder.Article contentHe said the jury should find the Crown has not proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt and find him not guilty of the charge.Article contentHe said they could find him guilty of second-degree murder and the theft over $5,000 charge.Article content
Murdered Deer Lake womans sister says shes lost a sister and a nephew
