A Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench judge says the Crown didn’t prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a Saskatoon man knowingly consumed psychedelic mushrooms hours before he beat his roommate to death with a hammer.

Therefore, the Crown can’t use that aspect of the drug consumption as an aggravated factor in sentencing, Justice Natasha Crooks ruled after a special hearing on Thursday, ahead of Nader Afzal Butter’s sentencing hearing on June 24.

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According to an agreed statement of facts, Butter, 46, admitted killing Steffen Pohl on Jan. 30, 2023 in their rented home at 1215 Idylwyld Drive North after consuming alcohol and magic mushrooms.

Last month, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

However, he testified on Thursday that he has no memory of seeing a bag of mushrooms on the table, talking about mushrooms with his two roommates, or consuming mushrooms. He also said he has never done drugs.

The facts state that Pohl, 35, Butter and a third roommate, Ahbay Singh, began drinking alcohol together around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2023. Pohl and Butter started arguing as their intoxication increased, Singh testified.

Butter said Pohl was becoming argumentative and racist, and “I didn’t know how to comprehend that.”

He admitted drinking three bottles of liquor that night — mostly without mix — but began having an “unsettling” experience inconsistent with his alcoholism.

“It was like an altered reality where everything was blurred,” Butter told court.

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“It was very different, something that I’d never felt.”

Singh testified seeing the victim take a bag of mushrooms out of his backpack and put it on a table in their common living space. Singh said he left the room for a period of time; when he returned, he said the bag was open and there were less mushrooms inside.

He said there was a noticeable mood shift between the two men.

Singh testified that he didn’t actually see Butter or Pohl ingest the mushrooms. He testified that Butter had discussed his opposition to drug use that night.

Crooks said she believes Singh’s testimony about the drug-related conversation, and doesn’t accept Butter’s evidence because of his alleged memory loss.

“I cannot say how he consumed (the drugs),” Crooks concluded. “It may have been voluntarily, it may have been involuntarily.”

The facts state that Pohl called police around 10:40 p.m. to report that Butter was being aggressive, threatening and trying to “murder” him. In the 9-1-1 call, he said he gave his roommate mushrooms and that the man was on a “bad trip.”

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Defence lawyer Chris Murphy said it could be inferred that Pohl gave Butter the mushrooms without Butter’s knowledge.

The call actually proves that Butter knowingly consumed the mushrooms, Crown prosecutor Jaimie MacLean argued. She noted that while Butter claimed to have no memory of taking mushrooms, he does remember police coming to their house early the next morning.

“(Butter’s) lack of memory does not equate to involuntary consumption,” MacLean said.

Butter said he didn’t know Pohl had called police until they arrived more than an hour later. That was the first time he heard anyone mention mushrooms, he testified.

The facts state an officer talked to the three roommates and left seven minutes later.

Butter said he blocked a lot of the night out of his memory. He was asked during cross-exam if it’s possible he took the mushrooms, but just didn’t remember.

“My memory is that I didn’t participate,” he replied.

According to the facts, Butter called his landlord and police around 7 a.m. the next morning to say there was a dead body in his house.

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A forensic pathologist determined Pohl had multiple injuries, including a skull, jaw and neck fracture, and died from blunt force head trauma.

A toxicology report confirmed there was psilocin (found in psychedelic mushrooms) in Pohl’s blood. The facts didn’t state whether Butter was tested for psilocin use.

Pohl’s father watched Thursday’s court proceeding by video from Germany. Court heard his son was working in Saskatoon’s restaurant industry.

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