Co-accused says ex-friend stabbed deaf man to death

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The Brampton Guardian: Providing Local Community News for Brampton, Ontario 24/7

The co-accused in a murder trial has told the jury he kicked the victim several times, but it was his former friend who stabbed him to death.

“I kicked him more than once,” the co-accused testified from the witness stand at the second-degree murder trial of Anthony Medwid, 20. “We both kicked him and he got stabbed.”
“Who stabbed him?” Crown prosecutor Brian McGuire asked.

“Anthony. In the chest and in the throat.”

The 19-year-old co-accused cannot be identified temporarily because of security concerns.
The teen, who will turn 20 later this month, has already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his part in the beating and stabbing death of Brian Wainman, 27, in his Church Street apartment building in March 2007. He is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 13 years.

He used few words to describe what happened that night after he, Wainman and Medwid were left alone in Wainman’s apartment. He said Wainman and Medwid had argued earlier that night, and they began to fight again.

“Anthony went into the kitchen, got two knives, gave me one, then I sat down on the couch,” the co-accused testified. “They started getting into a fight. I jumped up and put Mr. Wainman in a headlock. Anthony stabbed him and I let him go. He fell on the ground. I kicked him, kicked him a little bit and he (Medwid) stabbed him.”

He later said Medwid may have been hitting or stabbing Wainman while he held him in a headlock.

The co-accused admitted “stomping” Wainman on the face, leaving his shoe imprint on his cheek, and kicking him into unconsciousness, but he denied stabbing Wainman, maintaining it was Medwid who inflicted the fatal wounds.

“He regained consciousness and he got kicked one more time and he got stabbed after that.”
Martin said Medwid said he didn’t want to go to jail, so Wainman “had to be killed.”
When asked how Wainman’s neck was injured, the co-accused said his former friend did it while Wainman was unconscious.

“It was sawing on his neck (that caused the injury),” he said.

Under cross-examination by defence attorney Russel Silverstein, the co-accused agreed that he has an “extraordinarily violent disposition.”

He admitted to other violent acts in the past, such as cutting the throat on his sister’s teddy bear and setting a raccoon on fire. However, he denied writing a note last year while he was being held in jail for the murder asking to be taken off the range “before I stab someone.”

“I’m saying I did not write that,” he told Silverstein, despite being shown a signature on the bottom of the note.

He did admit being a member of the Bloods street gang, but denied wanting to be “a gangster”.
He denied knowing if his sentence would have “turned out any different” had he admitted to stabbing Wainman.

Silverstein suggested the co-accused had taken over the fight from Medwid and had snapped, “succumbing to his violent impulses”, but the co-accused denied it and denied blaming Medwid as “an easy way out.”

He testified he wanted to “do the right thing” and plead guilty to second-degree murder right from the start. He also testified he was not offered a plea bargain or any incentives for his guilty plea.

“I didn’t want to waste the court’s time,” he added, in explaining why he pleaded guilty.
 
Deaf man's killer acted alone, trial told

TheStar.com | Crime | Deaf man's killer acted alone, trial told

A deaf Brampton man was brutally murdered by a co-accused, who "fabricated" a story to "implicate" his client," defence lawyer Russell Silverstein told jurors today in a Brampton courtroom.

"Donald Corey Martin acted alone in murdering Brian Wainman," Silverstein said in his closing arguments.

He insisted Martin, a man with a "sadistic" violent past, "a psycho killer" was just waiting for the chance to kill somebody and that opportunity happened following a drunken argument in Wainman's apartment.

"This was a motiveless crime," Silverstein told jurors. "There is no evidence that my client participated in this horrible crime..."

Anthony Medwid, 20, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the March 23, 2007 death of Wainman in his Brampton apartment.

Wainman, 27, was stabbed 11 times, including two fatal wounds to his heart. His body was also repeatedly kicked and his facial bones were crushed when he was stomped on, jurors were told.

Crown prosecutor Brian McGuire will deliver his closing address later this afternoon.

It's the Crown's case that Medwid and Martin acted together to murder Wainman and that Medwid inflicted the stab wounds, including the two fatal wounds to his heart in a vicious and frenzied attack following an escalating argument over a couple of hidden beers.

Martin, 20, testified as a Crown witness. He already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and his serving a life sentence with no parole for a minimum 13 years.

In pleading guilty, and on the stand, Martin admitted he kicked Wainman and stomped on his face but insisted Medwid was the only person, who wielded knives that night as he held the victim in a headlock.

Silverstein told jurors Martin's account of evidence was filled with inconsistencies.

and "unworthy" of belief.

"There is no doubt Martin murdered Wainman," Silverstein said. "He pleaded guilty. He intended to kill Wainman..."

Silverstein told jurors the question they needed to answer was - did Martin act alone or did he kill Wainman with Medwid's assistance?"

He told jurors they must find his client "not guilty" if they find that it's "at least possible" that Martin acted alone.

Silverstein said Martin's violent background showed he was quite capable of the kind of violence inflicted upon Wainman.

"Martin had all the personality of a killer to murder Wainman or anybody else," Silverstein said. "He'll kill because he gets a kick out of it.

"Ask yourself? Could an 18-year-old drunken teenager have committed such a heinous crime?" Silverstein told jurors.

He said Martin was lieing when he testified that he was holding Wainman in a headlock when Medwid stabbed the victim in the neck, chest or face.

"It's impossible...the fatal stab wounds occurred last after Wainman was lying on his back," Silverstein said, reminding the court there was no blood found on Martin's clothing.

"It would be impossible for blood not to be found on Martin with Wainman bleeding copiously from his wounds," Silverstein said. "The absence of blood on Martin's shirt contradicts his account.

"The only scenario from the forensic evidence has Martin stabbing Wainman and not putting him in a headlock," Silverstein said.

Martin also had a motive to "falsely implicate" Medwid, Silverstein told jurors.

"Medwid was largely responsible for Martin's last 18-month stint in prison," Silverstein said.

He also reminded jurors that by pleading guilty and avoiding a trial, he knew his parole ineligibility would likely be at the lower end than the higher end.

Silverstein also told jurors how Martin admitted he couldn't control his explosive temper without taking cocaine and Ecstasy, drugs he didn't consume the day of Wainman's death.

He also has a long history of using weapons, including knives, and also previously threatened inmates and guards while in jail. He once slit the throat of his sister's teddy bear and set a racoon on fire.

Jurors know Medwid, Wainman and Martin were drinking heavily that night. They were invited to Wainman's apartment by another friend, who later brought two female friends to join the party. The other three people left the apartment before the deadly encounter.

Medwid testified on his own behalf and insisted Martin stabbed Wainman.

Jurors know Wainman was murdered following an escalating argument that began when Wainman grabbed Medwid by his neck after he was questioned about why he hid two beers that Medwid had brought to his apartment that night.

Wainman's blood was found on Medwid's jacket as well as on the front waist of his jeans and the knees of his pants. A forensic expert testified they were impact stains from a kick, punch or a stabbing and that the person wearing the clothing was facing the "blood letting" event.

Medwid claimed Wainman's blood got on his clothing when he "cradled" the dying man in his arms after Martin murdered him.

He admitted repeatedly punching and kneeing Wainman in his face about eight times after he became enraged when the victim grabbed his neck.

But he insisted Martin was the person, who repeatedly stabbed Wainman after initially kicking him in the face and ribs into unconsciousness and then stomping on his face.

Medwid claimed he cut his finger when he put the knives used by Martin into his pocket, not while stabbing Wainman as ther Crown suggested during the trial.

Medwid denied ever threatening to murder Wainman that night, something one Crown witnesses said they heard him say, Silverstein said.

"The Crown wants you to believe that Medwid, a person without a violent past, suddenly and inexplicitly, got up and murdered Wainman," Silverstein told jurors.

"Medwid admitted he punched and kneed Wainman several times so there is no doubt that would have accounted for the medium impact blood stains on him," Silverstein said. "There was no blood found on Medwid's shoes but there was blood found on Martin's shoes."

Medwid also insisted Martin wanted to set fire to the apartment to hide evidence of the murder or throw the dead man off the the third floor balcony of his Brampton apartment.

Medwid has admitted destroying evidence, wiping the knives and throwing them into a park creek and getting rid of beer bottles with his fingerprints.

The eight men and four women on the jury should begin their sequestered deliberation tomorrow (Wed) afternoon.
 
Update: Manslaughter verdict in killing of deaf man

The Brampton Guardian: Providing Local Community News for Brampton, Ontario 24/7

After six days of deliberations, a jury has found a Brampton man guilty of manslaughter in the vicious beating and stabbing death of a local deaf man.

Anthony Medwid, 20, will be sentenced Jan. 13 by Madam Justice Bonnie Wein in the brutal killing of Brian Wainman, 27, in March 2007. The verdict was delivered by the four women and eight men of the jury Monday night. The trial lasted three weeks.

Jurors found Medwid not guilty of the original charge of second-degree murder. The verdict means they did not believe- as the Crown alleged- that Medwid intended to kill Wainman or harm him to the extent that he would know he could die from his injuries.

Testifying in his own defence, Medwid admitted he wanted to hurt Wainman when he punched him in the face and repeatedly drove his knee into Wainman's face as many as eight time.

But after that, Medwid told jurors, Wainman dropped to the floor and he backed off, ending his attack.

Medwid told jurors it was his friend and co-accused, Donald Corey Martin, 20, who jumped in and continued the beating, stomping on the deaf man's face, kicking him in the side and head until he was unconscious. It was Martin, Medwid testified, who stabbed Wainman 11 times in the face, neck and upper chest, at one point sawing on his throat with one of two knives retrieved from the dead man's kitchen.

Wainman, the bones of his face so fractured and bloodied he would have had difficulty breathing, died of two fatal stab wounds to the heart, jurors heard.

Martin, who has already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving a life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 13 years, also testified at the trial. He admitted kicking and stomping on Wainman, but told the jury it was Medwid who delivered the deadly stab wounds.

The attack happened in Wainman's Church Street apartment after a party. Wainman didn't know the two accused before that night.

The jury heard the attack was precipitated by an argument between Medwid and Wainman over two missing beers. Medwid told the jury Wainman put his hands on his throat twice during two separate confrontations that were started by Medwid.

Crown attorneys Brian McGuire and Darilynn Allison asked jurors to find that Medwid and Martin acted as "a team" in the killing. Defence lawyers Russell Silverstein and Nic Rozier told the jury Martin acted alone, but was trying to frame Medwid as payback for a previous incident in which Medwid ratted on him.

There is no minimum sentence for manslaughter, and the sentencing range varies widely, depending on the circumstances of any given case. It carries a maximum life sentence.
 
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