LRT murder trial ‘not a whodunit,’ defence says
Loud sobbing reverberated through an Edmonton courtroom Wednesday as family members of the victim of a fatal 2012 beating on an LRT train watched video of the deadly attack.
The Edmonton Transit System video was played for the jury at the second-degree murder trial of Jeremy Newborn, 32, and showed the accused repeatedly punching victim John Hollar, 29, as shocked passengers look on and move away.
Several videos of the assault, taken from various cameras on the LRT, were played in court and also showed Newborn stomping on Hollar.
Eyewitness Manwar Khan testified he saw Newborn chasing after Hollar and punching him in the face and chest and heard the victim say: “Leave me alone. Don’t hit me” several times.
“We were all scared,” said Khan, who told jurors he approached the pair and told Newborn to leave Hollar alone. “But he didn’t stop at all.”
In an opening statement to the jury, defence lawyer Simon Renouf conceded Newborn assaulted Hollar on Dec. 28, 2012, and the victim died from his injuries two days later. Renouf told the jury that the only real issue was intent and whether it is murder or manslaughter. “This case is not a whodunit in the classic sense. This case is about two types of homicides,” said Renouf. “If there is a mystery, it is what was going on in Mr. Newborn’s head at the time.”
He told jurors the defence will be calling evidence that will include testimony from a forensic neuropsychologist who is expected to say Newborn is a person with “extremely limited intellectual capacity” who is below the one percentile of the general population.
Crown prosecutor John Watson told the jury in his opening address that there will be about 50 witnesses called during the scheduled four-week trial.
Watson told jurors Hollar boarded the LRT at Coliseum station and was heading north to Clareview station. He said shortly after Hollar boarded the train, Newborn initiated an altercation and pursued him as he tried to walk away.
Court heard “concerned” passengers started to “scatter” and most of them got off the train when it stopped at the Belvedere station. But as the train continued, so did the attack.
The jury was also told Newborn was arrested after being pursued when he left the train at the Clareview station.
Watson said Hollar was still alive following the attack and taken to hospital, but he was taken off life support two days later. He said a medical examiner will testify Hollar died as a result of “blunt cranial trauma.”
According to agreed facts, paramedics found a Kinder Egg containing what appeared to be cocaine and methamphetamine in Hollar’s clothing, as well as $890 in cash, a glass pipe and two cans of beer.