A Red Deer man was found guilty on Monday of manslaughter and arson for setting a fire in a basement suite that killed a 21-year-old woman.
Raymond Richard was charged with first-degree murder and committing arson with a reckless disregard for human life in connection with a house fire in West Park around 3:30 a.m. on March 31, 2022.
When firefighters arrived, they saw faint signs of smoke coming from a basement suite. When they tried to enter they found the door barricaded shut. Using pry bars, they managed to open a 12-centimetre gap and were able to put out the flames they could see on a stove and the nearby floor.
When firefighters finally got in, they used a thermal imaging camera to locate two people, Richard, and 21-year-old Trinity Gouda. Richard was found in a hallway and Gouda in a bathroom.
She was not breathing and had no pulse when found. She was taken to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, placed on a ventilator and began breathing before she was taken to an Edmonton hospital. She died the following day.
Richard, who was then 37, was found naked and unconscious. When paramedics were able to bring him to, he jumped to his feet in an "explosive fashion," began screaming incoherently, punched the air and then ran into a firefighter and then a fence before being brought under control.
He was taken to Red Deer's hospital and then sent to Edmonton, where he was placed in an induced coma and spent time in a hyperbaric chamber before regaining consciousness on April 4. He was released from hospital the following day, interviewed by RCMP and charged.
An investigation at the scene showed Richard had used deck screws to seal the door, blocking it with a stove, table, chair and a door. The window was also screwed shut and all vents stuffed with clothing.
A braided gas line in the suite had been partially cut and the stove burners turned on, which ignited the fire at the home at 54th Avenue and 39th Street.
A trial took place in Red Deer Court of King's Bench in April.
Crown prosecutors argued that Richard was guilty of first-degree murder for setting the fire and forcibly confining Gouda, whom he had met online and had a one-year relationship that was deteriorating.
The defence said Richard was high on methamphetamines, which he regularly injected daily, and was suffering from psychosis, paranoia and delusions and had not intended to kill Gouda. He thought other people in the home were trying to 'set him up" and Gouda was in on it.
The judge agreed that Richard's actions, which included sending paranoid texts to Gouda and suggestions he was going to commit suicide, were consistent with someone suffering a meth overdose.
In one text before the fire, he told Gouda that he was "honestly about to do the stupidest, craziest thing of my life."
When he came to, outside the house, he asked if Gouda was OK.
Henderson said, given Richard's condition and drug intoxication, there was reasonable doubt he had the intention of committing murder and could not be found guilty of first- or second-degree murder.
Defence lawyers Maurice Collard and Michelle McBeath said Richard had been willing to plead guilty to manslaughter.
"This was not a murder-suicide. This was a drug-fuelled accident."
The case returns to court on July 7, when a sentencing date is expected to be set. The maximum sentences for manslaughter and arson with disregard to human life is life in prison.
