04-07-2025
Orillia man pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2023 Ramara Twp. stabbing
Orillia man Christopher Scully pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the fatal stabbing of Fabian Crawford in 2023.
An Orillia man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death of an acquaintance outside a rural Ramara Township property.
Christopher Scully, 55, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in a Barrie courtroom to fatally stabbing Fabian Crawford, 48, following a fist-fight November 11, 2023, outside Crawford's home.
Scully, was scheduled to stand trial for second-degree murder starting in January.
'He used too much force in the act of defending himself,' said defence lawyer Chris Hanson. 'It's just a mistake. It's just something that happened in the course of a fight.'
As part of an Agreed Statement of Facts read to the court, Crown Attorney Katherine Cinerari said Crawford owned the property along County Road 169 near Monck Road where several men lived in neighbouring homes and trailers.
Ramara Township
Police believe Christopher Scully murdered Fabian Crawford at the property along County Road 169 near Monck Road in Ramara Township Nov. 11, 2023. (CTV News / Mike Arsalides)
One of the tenants on the property had hired Scully to fix the cab on his red pickup truck a year earlier. When Scully arrived to work on the truck that morning, he was confronted by Crawford about having taken too long to fix the truck that was stuck on the property.
That is when the court heard Crawford pushed Scully and a fight broke out between the two men. A witness said after the fighting stopped, they separated.
Scully was then seen pulling out a six-inch hunting knife and stabbing Crawford once in the gut, piercing his liver. Crawford yelled for help, telling his wife he had been stabbed. The Crown said Crawford died in his wife's arms.
Ramara Township
Police believe Christopher Scully murdered Fabian Crawford at the property along County Road 169 near Monck Road in Ramara Township Nov. 11, 2023.
One witness asked Scully why he used a knife in a fist fight, and he responded, 'I don't know.' Scully was arrested later that day and remains in custody.
'You walk around with a knife on your belt for whatever reason, it's like tap dancing on the edge of a cliff,' said Hanson. 'You don't know what's going to happen and you're putting yourself in jeopardy for something bad to happen.'
The court heard Scully hid the knife in his welder's kit and left the property on foot when he was declined a ride home after the stabbing. The Crown told the court Scully discarded a different knife in the grass near the roadway. Two weeks later the knife used to kill Crawford was recovered, tested, and found to have Crawford's DNA on it.
Once in custody, Scully told police he had a headache and was taken to hospital in Orillia where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
Those who knew Crawford described the father of two teenage girls as a generous and kind soul, respected family man, and business owner who ran a landscaping company.
'Nobody had to lose their life. It's a tragedy that somebody did lose their life,' said Hanson.
Scully's sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin in September.
Christopher Scully and Fabian Crawford
Christopher Scully and Fabian Crawford. (Supplied)
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