Article contentBelbin testified Secord had lunged at him with a knife. He said he twisted Secord’s wrist and grabbed the knife from him, then stabbed him in self-defence before Secord fell on the blade.Article content“I wasn’t trying to kill him. I was just trying to get away from the situation,” Belbin testified. Article contentBelbin told the court he fled in fear, believing Secord, whom he had seen get up, wasn’t badly injured and might come after him. He hid in a nearby drug store until a friend came to pick him up, and later changed his clothes and shoes only because they were wet, he said. Article contentEdwards asked the jury to consider that the law recognizes “imperfect people make imperfect decisions in stressful situations,” arguing Belbin’s actions were reasonable for a frightened 21-year-old. Article content“There’s no magic number in stab wounds. There’s not like there’s a tariff somewhere that says three and under is self-defence, four and over and it’s not. It doesn’t work that way. You have to look at the reasonableness of the circumstances,” he said. Article contentArticle content“(Belbin) was not thinking, ‘How many times can I stab him before he lets go?’ or ‘How many times can I do this before I cross the line?’ All he was thinking is, ‘I need to do this before Mr. Secord stops.” Article content Robert Belbin’s lawyers, Jason Edwards (foreground) and Ben Curties, will begin presenting their case Oct. 6. Photo by Tara Bradbury/The TelegramArticle contentBelbin’s story straight out of an action movie ‘like Jason Bourne’, argues CrownArticle contentProsecutors Paul Thistle and Mark James argued Belbin had brought the knife himself, angry after a heated exchange with Secord over the missing pills. If Secord had intended on killing his friend, he might have brought the taser or machete police found laying out in the open in his kitchen and living room, not a smaller knife, they suggested.Article contentThey asked the jury to consider why Belbin, if he were in fear for his life and believed Secord was coming after him, would throw away the weapon in his hand as he ran.Article contentThey questioned how Belbin could possibly fend off Secord, wrestle the knife from him, bring him to the ground, stab him multiple times, and run away without any injuries or blood on himself. Article contentArticle contentThey likened Belbin’s account to an action-thriller movie character.Article content“Mr. Belbin told you about a litany of violent, horrific crimes that he’d seen Mr. Secord committing (in the past). But if that’s so, then how does Mr. Belbin wrestle the knife out of the hands of this experienced fighter, like Jason Bourne or a comic book character?,” Thistle asked the jurors in his closing remarks. Article content“This account of the fight provided by Mr. Belbin sounds like something out of an action movie, because it is.” Article content Prosecutors Paul Thistle (left) and Mark James prepare to call their third witness at the murder trial of Robert Belbin, who sits in the dock behind them at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s, Sept. 23, 2025. Photo by Tara Bradbury/The TelegramArticle contentThistle reminded the jurors that self-defence allows for the use of proportionate force, and not more.Article content“Mr. Belbin stabbed (Secord) 10 times,” he said. “If you accept or are in reasonable doubt whether the first stab was proportionate, how could the 10th be? Article content“Our submission is that the intention of these actions is crystal clear. Robert Belbin intended to kill Seamus Secord, or cause him grievous harm that he knew would likely kill him, and he didn’t care whether (Secord) lived or died.” Article contentArticle contentArticle contentArticle content
NL jurors ask to replay key evidence as they determine if accused murderer Robert Belbin acted in fear or fury
