KAWARTHA LAKES-“I did not send that email. I would never send that email.” said defendant Bill Denby “I did not intimidate anybody other that with the facts and the truth of what they were doing to taxpayers.”
Denby was delivering his closing arguments today in a Lindsay courtroom. Denby is facing three charges of uttering death threats, criminal harassment and intimidating a justice participant stemming from incidents in 2023 and 2024.
Justice Lisa Wannamaker is presiding over the trial which began on August 24 and Crown Attorney Natasha Jerome will be presenting the case against Bill Denby. Denby pleaded not guilty to all charges and is representing himself.
The Crown accused him of sending a threatening email to all nine councillors, some city staff and others in April 2024. She says the evidence shows the email spoke of killing, poisoning and burying the officials and their families. The email also allegedly referred to death by hanging, hunting people down, knowing where they lived and said it was a “final warning”.
Denby denies sending the email and told the jurors that a number of people had access to his email accounts.
He claims the charges against him were fabricated due to his group attempting to expose alleged “corruption”. He testified that the police and city officials hatched a plan to kill him.
In his closing he once again accused officials of trying to silence him and keep him from exposing “corruption” at City Hall and says millions of dollars are missing from City coffers. Denby said when he was arrested in April 2024 he was taken to the police station and given a drink which he said contained “poison”.
“We knew police had no intention to do an investigation. They circled the wagons , the police, the CAO, the lawyer, clerk, Mayor, council and senior staff put a plan together to kill Bill,” he said.
In closing he said, “I’d never think in my wildest dreams they would try to kill Bill.” he said. “I’m hoping through a lot of what you have witnesses I hope you will come back that I, William John Denby, is not guilty of the charges.”
The Crown then issued her closing arguments.
“This case is not about whether Mr Denby is entitled to criticize the City of Kawartha Lakes. Mr Denby was entitled to and he could challenge the City’s spending, he could challenge their record keeping, he could seek those records, he could ask for an audit, make deputations, he could organize the taxpayer association and he did. He could publish lawful criticism, he could report suspected wrongdoings to police, and he could commence lawful proceedings.” said Crown Natasha Jerome.
“Those rights did not authorize Mr Denby to bombard councillors with communications, they did not authorize him to confront and insult councillors personally, they did not authorize him to watch them, to invade or to linger around the places where they worked, to threaten arrest, to threaten imprisonment, to threaten humiliation, violence, and death. That did not authorize him to target the spouse , children, family members of councillors nor did they authorize him to use fear as a means of compelling them to perform their public duties the way he demanded that those duties be performed.”
Jerome said the central issue of the case is not whether the defendant believed the City is corrupt but what he did because of that belief.
“You must consider whether Mr Denby’s evidence is believable, whether his defences are believable, and if you do not believe it you must still ask whether his evidence leads to a reasonable doubt.”
The case is expected to go to the jury tomorrow.
