A Richmond man accused of using an axe to murder his mother had set fire to her home several years earlier and had also threatened to harm her, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

In her opening statement to a jury, Crown counsel Kristin Bryson said that the case involving the accused, Darwin Lescano, and Redelma Belissario, a care aide at a home for the elderly, was about a relationship between a mother and son that “went horribly wrong.”

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“The evidence will show that the accused, Mr. Lescano, and his mother, Redelma Belissario, who went by Delma, had a very turbulent history that culminated in her death on May 15, 2015.”

Bryson said that there would be a “good deal of evidence” about Lescano’s use of crystal meth and described an arson attack that occurred in 2008, at a time when the accused was living with his mom at her property on Cambie Road in Richmond.

“The accused became angry with his mother, waited until she left for work, went and bought gasoline and set the house on fire. He pled guilty to and was convicted of arson.”

After the accused was released from prison, his mom took him back to live with her again, this time at the victim’s home in the 11000-block of Woodhead Road in Richmond, said Bryson.

The victim called police to assist her in dealing with the accused on several occasions after he got out of prison, said the prosecutor.

“She reported that he caused damage to the property and that there had been an argument that became physical.”

In the last two months of her life, Belissario reported a lot of problems with her son, said Bryson.

“She said that they fought a lot, that he had stolen from her and had threatened her.”

Bryson told the jury that the murder happened after the mother had been away for a weekend with friends in Powell River.

When Belissario returned to the home on Woodhead Road, she spoke to several people on the phone, including a realtor who was negotiating the sale of her property on Cambie Road, said Bryson.

After the realtor asked her what time they should meet the following day, she received no answer to the question.

“The only thing she heard on the other end of the phone was silence,” said Bryson. “Despite trying dozens of times that evening and over the coming days, the realtor never did speak with Delma again.”

The following day, May 16, 2015, the accused spoke to his brother, Dale Lescano, his sister, Dinah Lescano, and tried to get in touch with his cousin, said Bryson.

The accused left the house on Woodhead and went to his sister’s home, where he stayed for several days, she said. Family, friends and business colleagues of the victim became increasingly alarmed as they were unable to contact the mother.

Dale Lescano called the accused several times in an effort to find his mother, and Dinah Lescano called police and reported her mother missing.

When he couldn’t locate his mom, Dale Lescano went to the home on Woodhead, where he found his mother lying on the living room floor, said Bryson.

Eight days prior to the slaying, the accused had ordered the purchase of an axe online and a similar weapon was found at the crime scene.

DNA on the axe belonged to the accused and the 62-year-old victim, and a pathologist who examined the body found the cause of death to be due to 15 to 20 chop-type injuries to the victim’s body, most of them to her head and neck.

Just prior to the slaying, the accused, who was 38 at the time of the incident and has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, had purchased some drugs from a drug dealer, said Bryson.

In the days following the murder, the accused made several bank withdrawals, including $4,700 on one occasion. He was arrested in Vancouver on June 2, nearly three weeks after the slaying.

The trial is expected to run for about three weeks.

kfraser@postmedia.com

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