Carcross hotel owner Robert Olson was killed through a horrible beating by both Dean Boucher and Mark Lange.

That's what a 12-member jury heard Monday as Crown counsel John Phelps presented his closing arguments at Boucher's and Lange's second-degree murder trial in Yukon Supreme Court.

'It was horrible. It was vicious and it was callous,' Phelps said as he argued that, without a doubt, Olson was murdered by both Lange and Boucher.

Olson's body was found in the Wolf Creek subdivision on Dec. 27, 2004.

Earlier in the trial, Vancouver pathologist Laural Gray testified Olson died on Dec. 24, 2004 from a beating assault to the head and suffered 15 blows to his body delivered by kicking or punching.

'It was a horrible beating of a 64-year-old man in his own home,' said Phelps as he recalled evidence from the three-week trial.

First pointing to Boucher's case, Phelps said Boucher told the court numerous times he had lied to the RCMP about what happened on the evening of Dec. 23, 2004 because he didn't want to rat out Lange.

Boucher had turned himself in on Dec. 27, 2004 saying he had heard the death was an accident and that he hadn't been there. He wouldn't reveal who was involved though.

In all four statements to the RCMP, he said he had been drinking but wasn't intoxicated to a point where he was blacking out. When he took the stand, he said he had blacked out and couldn't remember portions of the night like loading the body onto a truck, Phelps noted.

Other witnesses who spoke with Boucher on Dec. 23 and 24, 2004 said there weren't signs of impairment.

'Mr. Boucher was certainly not scared sober,' said Phelps. He argued Boucher was lying on the stand rather than when he was giving statements to police.

The first time Boucher mentioned a weapon being used in the fight he said happened between Olson and Lange wasn't until the fourth statement to police after he had been charged with murder and was questioning whether the charge could be dropped down.

On the stand, Boucher told the court the fight between Lange and Olson started when Olson attacked Lange using some sort of wooden object.

'This was not self-defence. This was not an accident and this most certainly was not Mr. Olson's fault,' Phelps said Monday.

Boucher also spoke to Michael Wren, owner of the Petro Canada station in the McCrae area, of 'the devil' making him do it and going away for four years as he sat and ate a sandwich with blood from Olson's body on his hands, Phelps reminded the jury.

Jurors were told Boucher's timeline of events didn't match the timeline given by then-Carcross RCMP Const. Jeffrey Kalles, who spoke to Boucher before he saw him go into the bar.

It's also unrealistic to think the pair of highly-intoxicated men drove Olson's truck around to the back of the bar, loaded Olson and pieces of artwork into the vehicle within 10 minutes before taking off to Whitehorse, Phelps stated.

Before Phelps presented his case, Boucher's lawyer, Keith Parkkari, was the first defence lawyer to present his closing arguments.

The Crown's case, he said, could be fairly described as circumstantial evidence.

Jurors need to look at the information they don't have, said Parkkari.

There was no DNA nor fingerprint analysis done on a pool cue left at the hotel bar or on the blood which was spattered on curtains. Lange's clothing is not available and his shoe wasn't analyzed further to determine if a substance on it was indeed blood, the lawyer said.

'It's a little piece of information you don't have,' said Parkkari, who acknowledged his client had lied to police.

He told jurors they would have to assess Boucher's credibility against the evidence at trial.

Boucher, he said, had lived on the streets for years and is an admitted drug addict. He also lived by a code that you don't rat people out.

'Personally, I have a hard time with that,' said Parkkari.

Boucher had an honest belief that harm would come to him if he told the truth about Lange, he said.

'He wasn't going to give Lange up; his sensei, his little ninja,' said Parkkari.

The lawyer argued there is no direct evidence that Boucher caused bodily harm to Olson leading to his death.

Lange's statements to police, he noted, can't be used against Boucher. There was also no evidence the pair had a common purpose of causing Olson's death.

'He had no knowledge Mark Lange would do this,' said Parkkari.

Both he and Lange's lawyer, Andre Roothman, had stated at the trial's beginning that their clients would plead guilty to manslaughter an offer the Crown rejected.

However, in his closing arguments Parkkari said he had a problem with a manslaughter conviction for Boucher. There's no question there was a reckless disregard for life, but jurors have to consider the cause of death being the beating to the victim's head, the jury was told.

Unless they are are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Boucher helped in the beating, the jury can't convict Boucher of manslaughter, the lawyer argued.

Parkkari argued there is an offence Boucher could be convicted on.

'Dean Boucher is guilty of accessory after the fact,' said Parkkari.

Boucher's version of events has changed since he turned himself in to police. However, Phelps acknowledged Lange's story of the evening had remained consistent through his police statements, but argued Lange was minimizing his involvement.

Lange opted not to take the stand at trial.

He had to be pressed by the RCMP before he admitted he'd kicked Olson in the ribs, Phelps said. He said he was holding Olson down when the hotelier reached up and grabbed his face. Lange initially told police he tried to push Olson away.

The Crown submitted Lange minimized his role because he played a bigger part in Olson's death.

'He participated in the beating,' said Phelps.

It defies logic to believe Lange continued watching TV at the Caribou Hotel after Olson and Boucher began fighting, said Phelps.

Lange would have jurors believe he was scared so he continued to help Boucher, Phelps said, pointing out Lange's chances to run but that he never went to the RCMP.

'He continued to assist,' said the Crown prosecutor.

Even after they dumped the body and walked to the McCrae gas station, Lange helped Boucher lie about why there was blood on his hands, Phelps pointed out.

The gas station attendant who was working that night testified during the trial Lange told him Boucher has a tough sister after Boucher explained the blood on his hands to the gas station owner by saying he had been in a fight with his sister.

Lange could have also called the RCMP at the gas station, Phelps said.

The Crown prosecutor argued both accused said Olson had been punched or kicked seven or eight times, which wasn't consistent with the pathologist's testimony that Olson was punched or kicked 15 times.

In arguing his client shouldn't be convicted of murder, Roothman suggested all the evidence points to Boucher committing the murder.

He noted that Boucher's previous convictions for violent acts as well as a number of charges being stayed show a propensity for violence. Boucher also admitted to lying to police.

'I say you can't attach any value to what Mr. Boucher says,' Roothman argued.

His client, he pointed out, admitted to holding Olson down and kicking him in the ribs, and could be convicted for what he did on the basis of an assault.

'Assault yes. Assault with intent to cause grievance bodily harm perhaps,' said Roothman.

While Lange helped Boucher load Olson into the truck and drive to Whitehorse, he was under duress and scared of Boucher, so can't be convicted based on that, Roothman said.

'He was scared out of his wits,' the lawyer said.

Although testimony had been given to Lange's ability in martial arts, Roothman pointed out the injuries to Olson were more consistent with a street fighting style.

Also, Lange's description of Boucher giving a football kick to Olson is consistent with the type of injuries described by the pathologist, said Roothman.

As he concluded his closing arguments, Phelps said the murder happened after two buddies were drinking together and ran out of beer. When they didn't make the off-sales store on time, they eventually ended up at the Caribou Hotel.

Needing a truck to go to Whitehorse and buy booze and possibly drugs, they robbed Olson to accomplish that goal and in the process killed him, Phelps suggested as he closed his case.

Justice Leigh Gower is scheduled to give his instructions to the jury Wednesday.