Andrew Berry's Defence council spent a second straight day delivering his closing arguments as the 5 month trial nears an end.
The 45 year old Oak Bay father is charged with 2 counts of second degree murder in the Christmas Day 2017 deaths of his 6 and 4 year old daughters, Chloe and Aubrey, and has pleaded not guilty.
During the trial the Defence maintained Berry was in debt to a loan shark over gambling debts, and that it was his henchmen who attacked Berry and killed his daughters.
The Crown's contention is Berry killed his girls -- then tried to kill himself, something Berry has consistently denied.
Defence Council Kevin McCullough maintains the Crown's case is flawed and circumstantial, and he is telling the jury many of the Crown witnesses are not to be believed.
He challenges the credibility and reliability of the first 2 officers on scene -- describing one as distraught at seeing the scene, and then leaving the apartment unguarded for 5 minutes -- while he says the second officer was not forthright when asked about that.
McCullough says while nurses who treated Berry testified they saw him mouth the words "kill me" that is not an admission of guilt, adding his client had lost his children, was on medication after surgery, and that his condition at the time was like (quote) "coming out of a nightmare."
The Defence also challenged the testimony of Berry's sister, a police officer who cannot be identified due to a court ban. McCullough says she turned on her brother after learning he was in the apartment and the girls were dead, telling the jury she had "an agenda," behaving like a police officer not a sister.
McCullough says Berry was broken, suicidal and had nothing to live for -- and while he didn't kill the girls -- he may be morally responsible, and that's a cross he will have to bear.
The Defence is expected to wrap it's closing Thursday morning. The Crown will then deliver its closing statement to the jury, they will adjourn for the weekend, and on Monday will receive final instructions from the judge before retiring for deliberations.