A trial is underway in Port Alberni for a Tofino man accused of murder.

Luke Priddle has been charged with the second degree murder of 47-year-old Mathew Phillips, as well as robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.

The case dates back to December of 2020, when Tofino RCMP were conducting a welfare call at a Chesterman Beach Road residence in Tofino. They discovered Phillips deceased in a second-floor suite. The death was immediately deemed suspicious.

almost two years later, on Dec. 12, 2022.

Priddle's trial began in B.C. Supreme Court in Port Alberni on Monday, March 24. On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Christina Proteau presented her opening submissions to the jury. On Wednesday, RCMP Staff Sgt. Thomas Watts, an expert in bloodstain pattern analysis, described the bloody scene at the Chesterman Beach Road residence.

On Thursday, the jury heard from Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim, an expert in forensic pathology who performed Phillips' autopsy. She explained that Phillips had sustained "quite a significant number of injuries," including a total of 67 stab wounds. Most of these were on his head and neck areas, but the fatal blow, said Brooks-Lim, was a single stab wound to the left side of his neck that severed the carotid artery and jugular vein.

The jury is expected to hear from multiple Crown witnesses over the next week, including civilians and police officers involved in the investigation.