The suspect in a four-year-old murder case has been found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Raymond Wechzelberger.
Twenty-three-year-old Cory-James Kaufmann was originally charged with first degree murder, but was convicted of second degree murder Monday morning.
Kaufmann admitted in court that he went into the 59-year-old's bedroom in September of 2007 and beat him on the head with a rubber mallet he had purchased the night before.
He had planned to put the body in the trunk of his car and dump it somewhere else, but said it was too heavy so he put the mallet down a sewer grate and tossed his clothing and rubber gloves into a dumpster.
Then 19, Kaufmann had been working for Wechzelberger at the Spadina Road housing complex where the body was found.
Wechzelberger was a maintenance supervisor at the townhouse complex and their working relationship has been described as tumultuous.
Patti Moore, the crown prosecutor, says "The Crown theory of the motive in this case is that Mr. Kaufmann was concerned that his relationship with Mr. Wechzelberger was getting to a point where he didn't want it to go."
Kaufmann told the court he began to give the victim massages in exchange for money but became angry after Wechzelberger's sexual advances escalated.
Defence lawyer Brennan Smart says "My client had a difficult relationship with the deceased and my client had reason to be under a great deal of stress as a result of that relationship with the deceased and of course his conduct with dealing with that has resulted in the death of a man."
Both first and second degree murder convictions carry a life sentence.
"For first degree you're not eligible for parole for 25 years and for second degree you're not eligible for parole for a minimum of 10 years up to 25," Moore says.
Sentencing for Kaufmann is set for Jan. 31.
