Four days after a seemingly heartfelt apology to the family of a man he killed, William Trevor Escott is accused of threatening and assaulting someone else in a domestic abuse incident.
Escott received no jail time for killing 45-year-old Carlton Leith on Dec. 27, 2020 thanks to a joint 12-month conditional sentence submission agreed to by Crown counsel Aaron Burns.
High on the drug GHB, the 42-year-old Escott, who is much larger than Leith, punched him once. Leith fell back and cracked his skull, an injury that would prove fatal.
“I would like to say sorry to the courts, and to the family for what happened,” Escott told the court after a sentencing hearing on July 19, adding he is still “horrified” by the memories every night.
But four days later, according to Court Services Online documents, Escott allegedly assaulted a romantic partner. The files say Escott is charged with uttering threats and assault causing bodily harm in a so-called “K” file, which refers to domestic disputes.
The details of that case have not yet come out in court.
Escott was originally charged with manslaughter, but Crown counsel Aaron Burns agreed to accept a plea to the lesser included charge of assault causing bodily harm.
READ MORE: Manslaughter charge lowered to assault causing bodily harm for Chilliwack’s William Trevor Escott
Crown counsel and defence filed a joint submission asking the court for a 12-month conditional sentence, which is essentially house arrest with conditions, followed by three years of probation.
Submissions from Crown and defence included victim-impact statements from several of his Leith’s family members including his father, his brother, his mother and his daughter’s mother reading her statement.
“I’m numb,” his mother Diane Leith told the court. For nearly the past year she has been “in a black hole,” where she has felt weak, exhausted, sleep deprived with an inability to focus on anything.
“I want you to understand the depth of my loss,” she said, adding that Carlton was “a joy, a caring, gentle soul” who was dealing with a lifetime sentence of mental illness as someone diagnosed with schizophrenia.
His father, Ronald Leith fought through his tears to describe the moment in hospital, when he realized that his son, in a coma from cracking his skull, would not survive the brain injury, although his heart was still beating strong.
“This was the most devastating moment in my life,” he said.
He appealed to Escott directly in court, asking him to use the time he was given as an opportunity to turn his life around, and “work to become a genuinely good person.”
Escott stood in the courtroom to say a few words at the very end of the proceedings.
“Since that time I did what I could to better my life, and I am sorry.”
Escott is not in custody connected to the K file allegation from four days later. He is next due in court to face that charge Sept. 13. It’s unclear from Court Services Online if he has been charged with violating terms of his conditional sentence in the Leith case.
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