Asked several times by the mother as to what happened to cause her son’s devastating head injury, Evan Caswell Gilmer could only say he was sorry, a jury heard Tuesday.
Jennifer Gladue, the mother of 18-month-old Garth Leippi, testified she was wakened by Gilmer in the early hours of Oct. 12, 2008, to be told “something is wrong with Garth.”
She left the bedroom of their basement suite in Red Deer and found her son lying on his back in their living room.
“I shook his legs to get him to respond and he didn’t,” Gladue said struggling with her emotions.
“He didn’t move at all . . . there was no sound.”
Gladue told Crown prosecutor Jason Snider that Gilmer, an oilfield worker, started CPR on the child while she phoned 911.
Gladue said the child was waking up periodically through the night and crying.
She said the couple “split child care 50/50. We shared everything.”
The adults took turns tending to Garth in his bed, which was a playpen at the time.
Gladue said although she wore earplugs to muffle the sounds, she remembered hearing the child crying and Gilmer getting up to go into his bedroom.
She woke up when Gilmer shook her leg.
Airlifted to the Calgary Children’s Hospital, Gladue said doctors told her and her family there was no chance for the child, who was on life support after suffering a skull fracture to the back of his head.
After 24 hours, Garth was taken off life support and died.
Gilmer, 33, who is defended by Red Deer lawyer Lorne Goddard, is charged with second-degree murder.
Shortly after arriving in the hospital emergency room, the mother said she asked Gilmer what happened.
“He kept telling me he was sorry but he wouldn’t say why,” Gladue said.
She told the six-women, six-men jury she repeatedly asked Gilmer why.
Gladue said she continued to see Gilmer.
“He told me it was an accident and I wanted to believe him,” Gladue said.
The jury also watched two video tapes of the family shopping in two Red Deer department stores for a hard hat and overalls for Garth’s Halloween costume the afternoon before the incident.
The tapes show the three of them walking into the stores and strolling around the shelves.
They bought a small hard hat for Garth who was going to dress like a “little oilman” his mother said, brushing away tears.
Gilmer, who was dressed in a dark suit, could also be seen wiping away tears at least once.
Earlier Tuesday, Snider said in his opening address that the only person who could have inflicted the injury was Gilmer.
Snider made it clear in his opening address that this was only the Crown’s theory and is not evidence.
Snider said the case is “circumstantial.”
“The only person who dealt with Garth in the early hours was Mr. Gilmer,” Snider added.
Snider said several doctors will testify, detailing the severity of the injury and how it could have happened.
“It’s their medical opinion but the ultimate decision is up to you,” he told the jury.
Several police officers and civilian witnesses are also expected to testify.
Wiretap evidence of Gilmer conversations after he was charged will also be entered into the trial, Snider said.
He also said the video tape from the stores will indicate the child was healthy and functioning normally.
The trial before Justice Monica Bast got off to a shaky start when one of the jurors was dismissed because it was learned he had a criminal record for impaired driving, which he didn’t disclose in his initial notice from the government to be a potential juror.
He also didn’t disclose it in court Monday when the jury was picked. The man said he couldn’t properly hear Bast talking about potential reasons why people couldn’t serve on juries.
The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com