Teens on trial in Luka Gordic’s swarming death
Accusations that a young man was abusive to his former girlfriend led to a swarming attack and fatal stabbing of a Burnaby teen in Whistler, a prosecutor said Monday.
The background to the tragedy that claimed the life of 19-year-old Luka Gordic of Burnaby was outlined by the prosecution during its opening statement at the trial of three young men charged in the May 2015 slaying.
Crown counsel Julie Robinson told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes that it was seen as a tradition for high school graduates and their friends from the Burnaby area to visit the ski resort on the May long weekend.
Gordic had gone to Whistler and, with some friends, had run into another group of young men who he believed knew one of the males now accused in the attack, said Robinson. The victim told one of the group it was known the accused in question, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was abusive to his ex-girlfriend, she said. Gordic said that the accused should stop treating her in that fashion, prompting a phone call from the accused, who was angry, said Robinson.
The prosecutor said Gordic denied he had any intention to have a fight, but the accused was not mollified and it was ultimately agreed the two men would meet at the Olympic Rings monument: “There would seem to have been at the very least a prospect of a fight between (the two).”
Gordic rounded up a number of friends, and went to the Olympic Rings. The accused did not show up, but others from his group did, said Robinson. The victim then went to a residence, where there were more angry phone calls from the accused who wanted to meet Gordic, who said he didn’t want to see him and was having a good time at Whistler, and wanted nothing further to do with the matter, she said.
Gordic continued to enjoy his evening and had gone to a 7-Eleven just before the attack. After leaving the store, he was “set upon” by a group estimated in size from eight to 15 young males, said the Crown. “Shortly after the attack, Luka Gordic fell to the ground bleeding profusely.”
Shortly after the attack, descriptions of the attackers were broadcast by police, who saw the three accused near the scene of the crime, said Robinson. Clothing seized from all three accused had apparent bloodstains, said the prosecutor. DNA from Gordic was found on that clothing, she said. A knife with Gordic’s DNA was seized from the pocket of one of the accused and DNA from one of the accused was found on a second knife detected at the scene of the attack, she said.
Gordic, who suffered three stab wounds, one of them penetrating his heart, died soon after the attack.
One of the accused on trial pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree murder. The other two pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Under young-offender laws they cannot be named because they were younger than 18 at the time of the attack.