Brian Thomas found guilty in stabbing death of Transit driver Irvine Fraser By: Katie May Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019

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After deliberating for about two hours, a jury found 24-year-old Brian Kyle Thomas guilty Thursday of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of a Winnipeg Transit driver who had kicked him off the bus at its final stop.

Thomas admitted, through his defence lawyers, he stabbed Irvine Jubal Fraser, 58, six times around 2 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2017, but he pleaded not guilty and argued he was defending himself from the driver’s aggression.

The 12-member jury returned with a verdict just before 5 p.m., roughly 2 1/2 hours after Chief Justice Glenn Joyal finished giving them legal instructions.

Thomas’s defence lawyer, Evan Roitenberg, had argued his client shouldn’t be found guilty of murder because he was either defending himself during a fight with Fraser or he was provoked and caught up in the heat of the moment or too intoxicated during the stabbing to intend to murder.

The jury was told to consider the arguments of self-defence, provocation and intoxication.

If they believed Thomas was reasonably defending himself when he stabbed Fraser, jurors were instructed to acquit him. They were also given the option to find him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, which doesn’t carry the automatic life sentence a murder charge does.

Crown prosecutors argued Thomas wanted revenge on the bus driver for forcing him out of the vehicle at its last stop on the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus.

Thomas blinked, but did not react with visible emotion when the verdict was delivered in court Thursday.

None of the jurors offered any recommendation for how long he should be held in custody before he’s allowed to apply for parole. A sentencing date has not been set.

Fraser’s family and friends attended court throughout the nearly two-week trial and declined to speak to reporters Thursday.

The case drew widespread public attention, prompted memorials and highlighted concerns about Transit drivers’ safety. Electronic messages in Fraser’s memory were displayed on Winnipeg Transit buses across the city following the 2017 slaying.

In a statement issued minutes after the jury’s verdict, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 president Aleem Chaudhary emphasized workers’ safety.

“Our thoughts are first with the members of Irvine Jubal Fraser’s family. They have gone through so much in the past few years, and we know how difficult this trial has been for them, and we hope that this brings closure to them. Certainly, we know how difficult these two years have been for the entire Transit family,” the statement reads.

“Every worker has a right to safe and respectful workplace. No one deserves to be assaulted or killed on the job… We will continue to push for a workplace where our operators and passengers feel safe.”

Thomas stabbed Fraser during a struggle outside the parked Transit vehicle, near the bus loop on the U of M campus. Thomas, who was drunk, had been sleeping in the back of the otherwise empty bus and refused to leave when Fraser asked him repeatedly to do so.

Transit camera video footage leading up to the fatal stabbing, as well as testimony from four civilian witnesses, were some of the key evidence jurors had to consider.

In one of the videos, Thomas appeared confused and told the driver he didn’t know where he was. He asked to use the phone, said people were following him, and asked to be dropped off at the Victoria General Hospital.

Fraser told him he didn’t care. He asked Thomas to get off the bus about 25 times, eventually getting angry, grabbing the smaller, younger man and pushing him out the front doors.

Thomas then taunted him to come outside and fight, and spit in the driver’s face.

Fraser exited the bus and a physical struggle began, with witnesses reporting seeing the smaller man striking the driver. A second Transit bus driver intervened, just as the final stab wounds were being inflicted.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay

Katie May
Reporter

Katie May is a general-assignment reporter for the Free Press.

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