Public urination led to fatal Liberty Village stabbing, trial hears
Victim was killed after confronting couple, jury told as trial begins
A stranger repeatedly plunged a buck knife blade into Mike Pimentel as the two men brawled in Liberty Village on New Year’s Eve six years ago, an Ontario Superior Court jury has heard.
Shawn Poirier, whose second-degree murder trial began Monday, has pleaded not guilty to the Jan. 1, 2012 slaying.
After drinking at a party, Pimentel was walking back alone to a friend’s condo after 2 a.m. when he encoun- tered Poirier and his then-girlfriend, Sascha Harten, prosecutor Sarah De Filippis told the jury as the Crown opened its case.
The 24-year-old started yelling at Harten because she was urinating on the street.
The couple, who had also been consuming alcohol, was from out of town and she could not find a washroom, De Filippis said.
According to Harten, De Filippis said, Pimentel “yelled at her about peeing in the street and approached her and Shawn angrily.”
She swore at Pimentel, who pushed her into the street, and the two men then started to physically fight near the intersection of East Liberty St. and Hanna Ave.
Harten heard someone say the word “knife” and although she knew Poirier carried a buck knife, she did not see any weapons being used, the Crown attorney said.
“The fight itself did not last long and when it ended Shawn walked off in one direction and Mike, covered in blood, walked off in the other.”
Pimentel had been stabbed nine times.
Afterward, Poirier told Harten he thought he might have killed someone, De Filippis said.
“He also told her that he had thrown away his hat because it was covered in blood and he had gotten rid of his knife.”
Poirier told her they were leaving the city that night so they packed up their things and quickly left, De Filippis said. A buck knife, with Pimentel’s blood, was found near the location of the fight a few days later, according to the Crown.
De Filippis told jurors they will see avideo — sent anonymously to police in 2012 — showing a portion of the fight between the two men.
No arrests were made in the case for several years.