Niagara Falls senior stabbed 18 times, jury told
A Niagara Falls senior whose body was found in a pool of blood inside his apartment building more than two years ago suffered 18 “cutting wounds” to his body, a jury in heard Wednesday.
In his opening address to a sixman, six-woman jury, assistant Crown attorney Timothy Hill said the evidence will show Rich- ard Doxtator, 40, and his cousin Jasmine Doxtator, 38, are responsible for the death of 70-year-old Giuseppe “Joe” Caputo.
The defendants, both residents of Hamilton, have pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in Superior Court of Justice in Welland.
Caputo was found by a neighbour on June 19, 2015, in his Portage Road apartment.
Hill said video evidence will show Caputo and a woman entering the apartment complex early that morning.
“Neighbours later reported hearing screams for help coming from Joe Caputo’s apartment,” he said.
“It is the theory of the Crown that as Jasmine Doxtator entered the apartment with Joe Caputo, Richard Doxtator was laying in wait outside the back door.”
After the murder, items belonging to the victim were found “on the route” between Niagara Falls and Hamil- ton, Hill said.
The defendants were arrested 11 days later near Vaughan.
Hill said Jasmine Doxtator was a friend of the victim but that Caputo had never met Richard Doxtator before the night of his murder.
The trial before Judge James Ramsay is expected to last four weeks with 30 witnesses expected to testify for the Crown. alangley@postmedia.com Twitter: @nfallslangley