Health crisis led to gun obsession
Roger Munn, 53, of Nasonworth, saw his mental health deteriorate after a heart attack, court heard Friday, leading to paranoia, violence and 3D printing of firearms
Roger Munn was the consummate family man, the guy who could fix anything around the house or in the driveway, and who always showed his wife and kids how much he cared.
But then he had a heart attack, and the shock of that crisis sent him spiralling into paranoia, drugs and an obsession with guns that terrified his family, a court heard Friday.
Munn, 53, of Route 101 in Nasonworth, appeared in Fredericton provincial court by video conference from the Southeast Regional Correctional Centre in Shediac on Friday for a sentencing hearing.
He previously pleaded guilty to 10 crimes, including threatening his wife and son, assaulting his wife, pointing a firearm at her and possessing the gun for a dangerous purpose, carrying a concealed handgun, possessing a rifle that had had the serial number removed, possessing a loaded restricted handgun without authorization or a licence, possessing a prohibited rifle without a licence, possessing several prohibited over-capacity magazines and two suppressors; and possessing methamphetamine.
Crown prosecutor Gwynne Hearn said the defendant’s wife and son, Tanya and Austin Munn, contacted the police in late January to report that they feared Roger Munn and thought he posed a danger, especially to them.
They declined to attend an RCMP station to file a complaint “because they were scared Roger Munn was tracking their location by cellphone,” Hearn said, noting they arranged to meet a Mountie at a Fredericton restaurant instead.
They told police at that time that Munn had had a heart attack a while back, court heard, and that had changed him drastically.
The family said Munn had been using drugs, became erratic and paranoid, and was violent with his loved ones, the prosecutor said.
“He began to become obsessed with making guns,” Hearn said.
“[Austin Munn] advised his father had been printing guns with a 3D printer … He said if he spoke to anyone about the gun, he would kill him.”
‘Escalation of behaviour’
She noted Munn had threatened them both in June, had struck his wife on the chin with an umbrella in November and pointed a gun at her Jan. 24.
“The family was concerned with the escalation of behaviour,” the prosecutor said, noting Munn was determined to have a loaded firearm on his person at all times and had a loaded rifle on his nightstand.
Court heard he’d also been buying ammunition magazines at gun shops and ordering firearm parts.
As a result of the meeting with the RCMP earlier this year, Hearn said, a Mountie called Munn at his home and arranged to meet for a talk.
“They met at the end of the driveway,” she said.
Following that discussion, the prosecutor said, the RCMP obtained and executed a search warrant for Munn’s home and placed him under arrest as a result of his family’s complaint and what was found.
Among the items located and seized, Hearn said, was a 3D printer “that was in the process of printing a handgun.”
Officers also seized numerous other firearms, bulletproof vests and other firearms accessories, such as illegal ammo magazines and two suppressors, better known as silencers, court heard.
Police also found two small containers of meth on Munn when he was searched as he was placed under arrest, the prosecutor said.
But that wasn’t the end of the illegal items seized. After police left the home following the search and arrest, Hearn said, Tanya Munn called the RCMP to report that she’d found more guns in the home.
It turns out the Mounties missed four firearms in the basement, in a pile on top of a storage container, she said.
Hearn and defence lawyer T.J. Burke offered a joint recommendation on sentencing: two years plus a day in prison, after credit for remand time is deducted from his total sentence.
‘A guy who can fix everything’
Burke said given the crimes Munn committed, that might seem a little light, but he emphasized it was a unique situation.
He said Munn’s guilty pleas, positive pre-sentence report, remorse and complete lack of a prior criminal record were mitigating factors that had to be considered.
Burke said before his heart attack, his client was described as “loving, fun, caring, a guy who can fix everything.”
Munn embraced his role as a caretaker to his family, the defence lawyer said, but his health crisis upended his world - and the blow to his mental health wasn’t something he could fix on his own.
The defendant started taking caffeine pills in the wake of his cardiac incident, Burke said, and at some point, he took pills that appeared to have been laced with a harsher illicit drug. That sent Munn further down his behavioural spiral, he said.
Sentencing his client to the minimum federal-prison term instead of a shorter provincial jail sentence, Burke said, will ensure Munn gets access to the programs and treatment he needs to return to himself completely.
“He’s a prime candidate for rehabilitation,” the defence lawyer said.
“He wants to get the treatment. He wants to get the help.”
He pointed out Munn’s family were in court Friday to support him, and they know he’s turned a corner and is headed back in a more positive path mentally.
“It’s made his marriage and his family stronger,” Burke said.
Munn, clad in jail-issued orange sweats, apologized for his actions.
“It was, in fact, the drugs that got me there,” he said. “I’m truly sorry for it.”
He wiped away tears as he said he wants to get better so he can return to his family.
‘You had to be stopped’
Judge Mary Jane Richards accepted the joint recommendation, noting it’s fortunate Munn’s family sought help to prevent a greater tragedy.
“The offences were serious and dangerous and little crazy,” she said. “You could’ve done something really bizarre … You had to be stopped.”
It’s clear Munn despaired after his heart attack and got down about it, the judge said, but health issues and deterioration are all parts of getting older to which everyone has to adapt.
“We can’t allow ourselves to go down that road,” Richards said, noting she’s often seen people turn to drugs as a quick fix to their problems but it’s ultimately not going to work for them.
The judge said he wasn’t really in control of himself, and fortunately, his family cared enough to get him some help.
“You’re hard-working, and you looked after your family. Now they’re looking after you,” she said.
In addition to imposing the two-year prison term, the judge prohibited Munn from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years following his release from incarceration, ordered him to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, and ordered all items seized from the homes forfeited to the Crown.
Hearn also withdrew three other charges: Jan. 26 counts of careless storage of firearms, possession of non-restricted rifles without a licence, and the manufacture of a firearm without authorization.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.