‘Waste of alcohol’ sparked drifter’s slaying, court hears

Beating began after man, 20, vomited Victim begged for his life, Crown says

ANew Brunswick drifter pleaded for his life while being beaten and stabbed during a vicious attack that ended with him being drowned in a Mississauga creek, a jury heard yesterday. Crown prosecutor Alex Cornelius said in his opening address that Richard Hughes, 20, was slain by Carl Gernhaelder on Oct. 18, 2004, in a wooded area in Mississauga because he became enraged when he vomited after consuming the accused man’s liquor. The beating began because Gernhaelder considered Hughes’ vomiting to be “ a waste of alcohol” Cornelius said.

“ He was beaten, stabbed, and then beaten some more and then his head was held under water until he drowned,” said Cornelius, who told the jury that two 15- year-old boys assisted Gernhaelder in the slaying that involved the victim also being “ clubbed with tree branches.” Gernhaelder, now 24, has pleaded not guilty to second- degree murder in a trial that began yesterday in a Brampton courtroom before Judge Thomas Dunn. The jury heard that on the night of the killing, Gernhaelder initially wanted to go drinking with his two younger friends to an area known as The Fort behind a gas station near Derry and Argentia Rds. in north Mississauga south of Highway 401. But Hughes invited himself, and the others reluctantly agreed, Cornelius said. While at The Fort, the four shared a bottle of vodka, Cornelius said. Hughes vomited after consuming a lot of alcohol and Gernhaelder criticized him for wasting his booze and “ punched him in the face,” the court heard. The teens chastised Gernhaelder for hitting him so lightly, Cornelius said, and he struck Hughes with much more force and he fell to the ground. “ Hughes was then swarmed by Gernhaelder and the two teens who kicked and punched him,” Cornelius said. “ Hughes begged for them to stop.”

Gernhaelder stabbed Hughes twice in the back and once in his throat, the court heard.

“ Believing that he was dead, they then took him to a nearby creek,” Cornelius said. “ But the water revived him and he tried to get out of the creek.”

Cornelius said Hughes was kicked again and the assailants used tree branches to strike him repeatedly in his head and body.

Eventually, “Gernhaelder sat on his back and held his head under the water for 10 to 15 minutes until he was sure he was dead,” Cornelius said. The trial continues today.