ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A former top Newfoundland athlete charged with first-degree murder has admitted to killing a man with a hammer.
But the judge in the case says a lawyer for 30-year-old Anne Norris will argue she was not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.
The jury in the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court case was told Norris killed 46-year-old Marcel Reardon by striking him multiple times with a hammer.
There is an agreed statement of facts in the case, which began Monday in St. John's.
Norris admits she put Reardon's body beneath a staircase at Harbourview Apartments in downtown St. John's in May 2016.
Following the killing, Norris admits she put the hammer into a book bag, along with some rope and a pair of jeans, and tossed the bag into St. John's harbour.
Norris was named to the women's under-19 basketball team competing for Newfoundland and Labrador at the junior national championships in 2005.
Her father, Gary Norris, was also clerk of the executive council and secretary to cabinet before retiring in 2010 with thanks from former premier Danny Williams.
