Trial begins for two men charged in stabbing death of Carel Douse
Daniel Wise and Alieu Jeng have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder
Just two weeks before Carel Douse was stabbed to death on a central Hamilton street, he got into a fight with one of the men accused in his murder.
Douse, along with his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Clark, had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday at the now-closed Modrn Nightclub in Hess Village in the early-morning hours of May 4, 2019.
The pair had initially planned to stay in that night, but arrived at the Hess Street South venue just after midnight.
Their friends had reserved a booth — and were seated right across the floor from another group that included both Daniel Wise and Alieu Jeng.
Both Wise and Jeng have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Douse, who was stabbed in the early-morning hours of May 18, 2019.
The two men were in court Friday on the opening day of their trial, seated beside one another in the prisoners’ box.
Court heard that Douse and Wise were well known to each other and would often hang out at the club. However, that friendship had soured in the months prior to the attack.
It’s unclear why the relationship fell apart.
Later in the evening at the club, just before last call and closing time, a fight broke out between the two groups while Douse was downstairs going to the washroom, said Clark, who was standing by the bar that night.
As Douse came up the stairs from the bathroom, Clark said he ran toward his friends to try and break up the scuffle.
That put the 33-year-old Hamilton man between Jeng and another man — resulting in Douse being punched in the chest by Jeng and the two of them exchanging words.
“(Jeng) then told (Douse) to … go suck his mother,” said Clark, who was standing just a few feet away from her boyfriend.
“(Douse) then punches (Jeng) in the face.”
Security guards intervened in the scuffle and Jeng was quickly removed from the club, while Douse was held back by another bouncer, said Clark, during her testimony.
Clark, who was in a relationship with Douse for 10 years, was the first witness to be called by Crown attorney Brian Adsett.
Clark testified that minutes after Douse and Jeng were separated by security guards in the club, she and her boyfriend decided to leave and began walking to their car, which was parked along King Street East, near the Big Bee Convenience store.
Douse and Jeng spotted one another and then started fighting on the ground in the middle of the crosswalk at King and Hess, Clark said.
“They fought for a couple minutes, punches were landed but I don’t think anyone was hurt,” she said. “There was no blood or anything. It was more like a tussle.”
It’s unclear why or how the fight ended, but it was over quickly, said Clark.
Then she and Douse got in the car and headed over to More Than a Haircut to continue the night out — driving to the same club where just two weeks later, her boyfriend would be fatally attacked.
In an opening address read to the courtroom, Adsett described when Douse was stabbed. It began at a barbershop, More Than a Haircut, on King Street East near East Avenue North.
Adsett said Douse was standing by the front door of the barbershop, which turned into an after-hours club on weekends, when three men — two of whom are alleged to be Wise and Jeng — attacked him, stabbing him at least three times.
The trio then chased him outside, Adsett said, heading north on East Avenue, where the attack continued on the front porch of a home. It’s where Douse was found with stab wounds all over his body.
He died in hospital later that day, said Adsett. Meanwhile, the three men fled the area on foot and eventually got in a taxi to travel across the city.
Jurors were told the third man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the fatal attack.
The trial continues Monday.