Man allegedly hit neighbour with vehicle before executing him, jury hears as trial begins

There are only two people who really know what happened on the fateful day in June 2021 when a man allegedly killed his neighbour: the one whose remains were discovered over a month later, and the one now on trial in a Winnipeg court for first-degree murder, prosecutors told the jury hearing the case Monday.

But the evidence left behind was enough to help investigators piece together the story of how they believe things played out that day, Crown attorney Bryton Moen said during his opening statement on the first day of the trial of Eric Wildman, now 38.

Wildman has pleaded not guilty to killing 40-year-old Clifford Joseph on or around June 7, 2021, in the village of Stead, Man.

It all started after a fire at Wildman's property burned his home and several of his vehicles a month before that, which Moen said made "the temptation to turn his neighbour's misfortune into his own gain … too much" for Joseph, who court heard planned to steal from Wildman.

"That, however, did not make it OK for Eric Wildman to kill him," Moen said.

But when Joseph got there, he was intercepted by his neighbour — who Moen said hit Joseph with his vehicle, then took the injured man to another location where he executed him. When Joseph's remains were finally found, he had a broken leg and jaw.

"But those injuries didn't kill him," Moen said. "What killed him were three gunshots, including one to the back of the head."

Alternatively, prosecutors are arguing Wildman killed Joseph while forcibly confining him, court heard — another route to a conviction for first-degree murder.

Joseph was found after being reported missing the morning he's believed to have been killed, after his girlfriend went to look for him at Wildman's home but instead found the victim's truck across the road with his keys and phone still inside.

Court heard the woman also found items belonging to Joseph lying in the grass between tire tracks in a field near Wildman's home.

"This case is like a puzzle. Each piece is important, but each piece does not present much of the picture until it is seen in context with everything else," Moen told the jury. "That will be your task in this case — to see all of the evidence."

That includes details about Wildman's actions in the days following Joseph's disappearance — like when he "rather surprisingly" contacted Selkirk RCMP from his mom's house on June 9 and "for some reason" told Mounties that on the night Joseph went missing, Wildman was staying elsewhere.

But the person whose home Wildman mentioned told police the man had never stayed there, Moen said.

Court also heard Wildman's vehicle was later found with damage to the bumper and windshield — and surveillance footage from an autobody shop showed him buying a new hood, then changing it in the parking lot before taking off and leaving the original hood behind, which Moen described as him trying to "cover his tracks."