Windsor-area man found not guilty in murder of former guitarist for rock band ‘Helix’

A Windsor man was acquitted in the death of former Helix guitarist Dan Fawcett. CTV London’s Nick Paparella explains why.

During his trial in March, the court heard how Craig Allan, 50, was hooked on crack cocaine and driving around London in a stolen car in November of 2022.

That’s the same time that the body of 52-year-old Daniel Fawcett, the one-time guitarist for the rock band Helix, was found with fatal stab wounds in Gibbons Park near downtown London.

An autopsy revealed that Fawcett died after being stabbed in the chest and back.

Days later, Allan was arrested in the Toronto area in connection with the murder.

While handing down her decision on Thursday, Justice Patricia Moore concluded that Allan had lied and deceived officers during his police statement about his whereabouts on the night that Fawcett was stabbed to death, saying, “I am simply unable to find him credible ... his version of events was everchanging.”

However, the judge also found that the Crown’s key witness, the person who was with Allan and lured Fawcett to the park for drugs that night was also someone who was deceitful.

Justice Moore said she couldn’t rely on that Crown evidence because the witness was an accomplished liar, adding, “In the end, when I consider the evidence presented in its totality, I am left with a reasonable doubt and must therefore find Mr. Allan not guilty of the offence of second-degree murder.”

Allan’s lawyers Carolynn Conron and Michelle Farquhar said that their client was a scapegoat in this case.

“The evidence that the witness provided was not credible or reliable,” said Conron after the decision. “So based on that absence of evidence, there was not sufficient basis to conclude that he was the one who committed the act.”

After Justice Moore handed down the not guilty verdict, Allan turned and hugged his parents and then his lawyers.

Allan had been in custody since his arrest almost three years ago.