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Toronto Star
5 days ago
- Toronto Star
‘Somebody was stabbed and he's dead': Unheard testimony and video footage from the girl swarm case
'I put my arm up, the knife went in.' Everyone had waited for this, to hear what the 16-year-old boy would say on the witness stand. This wasn't the trial for the girl accused of stabbing and killing Kenneth Lee, but instead the preliminary hearing, a kind of dress rehearsal involving all eight of the girls and their lawyers a year earlier. This is where legal issues — including whether the girls should stand trial — got ironed out. The boy had never agreed to speak to police. So, his testimony, seven days into the hearing, was a discovery of what he knew and what he would say at trial. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW He would never be called to testify at the Superior Court of Justice at the only trial that would go ahead — not once the Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers learned what he had to say. The girls had been drinking and smoking weed that night and were not acting like themselves, he said, which could have hurt the Crown's case that the girl intentionally harmed Lee. And, the boy said — unhelpfully for her defence — the girl who was accused of stabbing Lee, had a knife that injured him during a play fight, after the swarming attack. 'Your daughter's been arrested for murder': How a mother learned about her teen's role in Kenneth Lee's killing That testimony has, until now, been under a publication ban. On Friday, Justice Philip Campbell found the girl prosecutors tried to pin Lee's stabbing on not-guilty of murder, saying there was reasonable doubt she fatally wounded him. The decision brings to a close the prosecution against eight teen girls, ages 13 to 16 at the time, who were part of the swarming attack. But with none of them guilty of murder, the question remains: Who stabbed Kenneth Lee? This story details never before publicized evidence — how the girls themselves initially blamed one amongst them for the stabbing; how one of their friends testified that he himself was accidentally stabbed; and how a police interview unfolded with the accused stabber, one that was never admitted at trial. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW None of the young people can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Kenneth Lee was visiting the parkette with a friend when their paths crossed with the girls, who swarmed him and at least one of whom stabbed him. Toronto Police Service In May 2024, the teen boy, under oath, said he'd known the girls he was hanging out with that night for a couple of months. He identified himself in video surveillance footage with them throughout the night of Dec. 17 and early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2022, following Lee's death. First, he was captured on the Yorkdale station subway platform where he and several girls could be seen chasing each other, playfully, up and down the tunnel. He was asked to identify what two of the girls could be seen holding: 'A knife,' he said. The court heard earlier this month, when one of the girls pleaded guilty to manslaughter, that she threw that knife onto the subway tracks 'because she didn't want anything dangerous to happen.' That fact was entered as part of an agreed statement that the Crown said they could neither prove nor disprove. Following the attack on Lee, video footage shown at the preliminary hearing showed the group of teens continued to loiter downtown, in an office lobby on Bay Street and outside, taking videos of themselves laughing and dancing. The girl accused of stabbing Lee, in one video, mimics stomping motions towards the cellphone camera, with what looks to be red blood stains visible on her grey sweatpants. Video surveillance footage of the attack on Lee shows the girl jumping with both feet and appearing to stomp on Lee as he is backed into a concrete planter in the parkette. Just over an hour after the attack on Lee, shortly after 1 a.m., the teens returned to Union Station where some of them began play fighting outside, the boy recounted when asked to review surveillance footage of the moment in court. It was hard to see exactly what happens from the video angle, but at one point the boy can be seen in the video bent over as the girls gather around him. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW A plan drawing of the parkette where Kenneth Lee was fatally stabbed and the surrounding area that was entered as an exhibit in court. Court exhibit The boy told the court that he was accidentally stabbed by the girl who would later be on trial for stabbing Lee — 'Wrong movements at the wrong time,' he told the court. A knife sliced through his right forearm, he said. The girls helped him get inside the station, video shows, where they got the attention of security guards. One of the girls called 911, the lead police detective in the case testified at the preliminary hearing, and said their friend had been stabbed. The girls would follow their friend to SickKids Hospital, where he was treated. The boy snapped a picture of his bloodied wrist, appearing stitched up, and sent it to his friends — later seized as evidence from the girls' cellphones. The messages were 'going crazy' in the group chat about how the boy had been injured, one of the girls' friends, who was not involved in the swarming, later testified at trial. The boy agreed, when asked by the girl's defence lawyer during cross-examination at the preliminary hearing, that the girl who stabbed him seemed drunk and was acting out of character that night. He was asked if it was possible he was cut with scissors and not a knife. The girl accused of stabbing Lee's had two pairs of nail scissors on her when she was arrested. None of the girls had a knife. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The boy testified he had also been smoking weed and drinking that night, affecting his memory. 'Maybe,' he answered. The girl accused of fatally stabbing Kenneth Lee was arrested with two small pairs of nail scissors. Court exhibit All eight girls were corralled in the lobby of SickKids Hospital when officers began to arrive through the revolving doors to investigate them. It was almost 3 a.m. and at first the officers didn't tell the girls they were being detained as they watched them from a distance, their body-worn cameras turned on. The girls didn't seem immediately bothered by the cops' presence. They didn't realize yet what was happening as they continued talking to each other and using their phones. The body-worn footage was played as part of a hearing about the admissibility of evidence at trial, but not at the trial itself. It wasn't until one of the girls asked an officer if she could talk to someone in the hospital lobby when the girls began to realize something was wrong. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'None of you are going to be leaving anytime soon,' the officer said. 'We can't leave?' one of them asked. There is an ongoing investigation about an incident at York and University, an officer replied. 'Somebody was stabbed and he's dead.' Crime scene photos show where Toronto Police marked blood from Kenneth Lee in the parkette where he was fatally stabbed. Court exhibit 'He's not dead,' one of the girls responded, possibly referring to their injured friend, as several of the girls approached where the officers had gathered. The girls denied being at York University — 'That was not us' — misunderstanding that the cop was referring to the downtown intersection, near Union Station. 'None of you are leaving until we sort things out,' an officer said. Is it a 'boy' or a 'girl' who's dead? one asked. It's a male adult, an officer told them. As they debated the location the officer described, one of the older girls clued in: 'I didn't kill nobody.' 'Yo, it was f—ing this b—h right here,' another said, gesturing to one of the girls seated behind her. The girls were talking over each other. 'Nobody killed nobody are you crazy?' a girl fired back at the girl who levelled the accusation. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW How do you know her? an officer asked. Another girl chimed in to say she heard from another girl that the girl behind them did it. Officers then moved toward that girl. 'You're being arrested for homicide,' one said, as she was handcuffed. The girl the Crown would eventually accuse of stabbing Lee was seated next to her, jacket hood up over her face. She was not speaking. In his decision, the judge found he could not exclude the possibility that the girl being accused in the SickKids lobby was responsible for the fatal stab wound. That girl, he wrote, can be seen on video with 'something that is shiny and shaped like a blade' protruding from her hand as she runs towards Lee during the final wave of the attack. At the same time, he wrote he could not conclude she was holding a knife. 'Is it a Chinese man?' one of the girls asked, still confused about why they were being investigated. 'It's a very serious matter,' one of the officers said. Officers searched the pockets of the girl being arrested, finding them full of candy and gum. 'I'm gonna read you your rights in the car, OK?' She was the first to be arrested. The 14-year-old is brought into a small, windowless interview room wearing an orange police-issued jumpsuit, her pink hoodie visible underneath. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The police detective followed behind her and sat across from her at a small white table that looked bolted to the floor. There's no lawyer, no parent present — the reason why this video footage, also discussed at the hearing about evidence admissibility, is never entered at her trial. 'My job here is to find out exactly what happened,' the officer told the girl, saying some of the other girls were choosing to tell police exactly what they did to Lee. 'Do I have to answer?' the girl asked. He told her she didn't. Gta A secret confession, chartered flights and strip searches: Behind the scenes of the girls-swarming saga after the killing of Kenneth Lee Here are some of the details that can now be reported for the first time. He led her through questions of where she was that night. She complained of losing her voice from talking too much. He asked why she wasn't making eye contact. 'I can't look at people when I talk to them . . . It makes me uncomfortable,' she said. Eventually the detective turned his laptop around to play the surveillance video from the parkette for her. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The girl leaned forward, tucking her chin into her hoodie as she watched. She pointed herself out in the video. 'Do you want to just tell me what happened?' the detective asked. 'I want to see what happened,' she responded. She couldn't remember, she said, telling the officer she hadn't been sober. 'I remember, but just don't remember,' she said. The detective continued playing the video from the parkette. 'He dies after this, from what happened to him,' the detective said. 'He suffered stab wounds . . . Did you stab him?' There is a long silence. She doesn't answer.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Accused abuser's trial will reveal 'sexual violence on an unrelenting scale,' Crown tells court
WARNING: This story includes graphic descriptions of sexual violence. Evidence from 28 complainants who allege Michael Haaima preyed upon them — some when they were teen girls — will reveal a "predatory system of sexual violence," the Crown told court as his trial began Thursday in Kingston, Ont. Assistant Crown attorney Megan Williams told the Superior Court of Justice she intends to show the pattern of alleged abuse was driven by the accused's need for control and an "unrelenting interest in sexual activity with a child." Haaima, now 40, faces 98 charges for alleged incidents dating back between 2007 and 2022, when he was arrested. The indictment lists more than 30 counts of sexual assault, several of which are alleged to have involved choking or weapons including a belt, a paddle and a screwdriver. Haaima also faces multiple charges for allegedly accessing and making child pornography. "This is a case about sexual violence on an unrelenting scale," Williams said in her opening statement. "It is about Mr. Haaima's predatory collection of young women and teenaged girls to be used for his sexual domination, fuelled by his violent and pedophilic sexual urges." The defence did not making an opening statement as the trial began Thursday. Haaima pleaded not guilty 96 times Haaima, who appeared in court wearing a grey suit and glasses, could be seen shaking his head as the Crown lawyer read her statement. The list of charges was so long that Haaima's lawyer Natasha Calvinho asked that she and her client be allowed to sit while it was read out. It took more than 40 minutes, with two members of the court staff taking turns reading 10 counts at a time. Ninety-six times Haaima pleaded not guilty. He pleaded guilty only to the final two charges, for breaching a non-contact order after he was already in custody. The investigation began in January 2022. Prior to his arrest, Haaima worked in Kingston's tech sector. Williams, the Crown lawyer, said the allegations against him could be divided into two broad time frames. The first, spanning 2007 to 2010, involved seven women and allegedly saw Haaima "taking advantage of access" he had to them through selling marijuana. The other 21 complainants encountered the accused between 2016 and 2022, after being targeted through social media platforms including dating app Tindr, according to the Crown. The identities of all the victims are shielded by a standard publication ban. 5 months set aside for trial Williams told court Haaima's alleged pattern of abuse began with him presenting as a "nice guy," offering his alleged victims alcohol and marijuana before a sudden "escalation to sexual violence" including voyeurism and filming. Some of the women are expected to testify they were choked into unconsciousness, she told the court. They'll also testify Haaima forced complainants to call him "daddy" and act like a schoolgirl, a child or a baby. The Crown said Haaima would also expose alleged victims to child pornography during sexual encounters, sometimes grabbing them by the hair and forcing them to watch it. Williams alleged Haaima also forced one victim, who was then under the age of consent, to engage in sexual activity with other men while he watched, describing that as falling under the "broad umbrella of human trafficking." "Eventually, his purpose evolved to soliciting some of the young women to facilitate his access to a young child for a sexual purpose," she told court. The trial is proceeding before a judge alone and is expected to take roughly five months. Williams said she anticipates Crown witnesses could testify into October, adding time has also been set aside this November and January 2026 to accommodate the defence and closing submissions.
Vancouver Sun
20-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Judge notes 'suspicious' timing of handgun theft after police asked for pictures
An Ontario manicurist authorities believe to be a 'straw purchaser' of handguns reported that her safe full of weapons, silver bars and cash was burgled the day after the province's chief firearms officer requested photos of the arsenal. Chi Do was convicted in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice on three counts of transferring a firearm knowing that she was unauthorized to do so, 12 counts of possession of a firearm for the purpose of trafficking, and one count of public mischief, with the intent to mislead, by reporting she'd been robbed by a boyfriend whose last name she couldn't remember. 'I find the timing of the report of theft to be suspicious,' Justice Judy Fowler Byrne wrote in a recent decision. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'The report of a theft came on the very day that she was supposed to provide evidence that she had possession of the fifteen firearms. While viewed alone, it may make sense, but considered with the other evidence, it appears to be the only option open to Ms. Do who needed a reasonable explanation as to why her firearms were missing. Viewing this theft report in light of all the evidence, Ms. Do was motivated to fabricate a story about being robbed.' Do was 'flagged as a high-volume purchaser' by the province's chief firearms office after buying four handguns within four days. When an officer with the outfit started to investigate, 'he learned that Ms. Do had 15 handguns and one long gun registered to her,' the judge wrote in a decision dated May 16. The officer contacted Do on Valentines Day of 2022. 'He wanted assurances that all of the firearms were still in her possession. Ms. Do assured him that all of her firearms were safely stored in her safe at her home.' The officer asked her to take photos of the guns stored at her home. 'Ms. Do said she was rushed and on her way to work, but promised to email him the photos of all 16 firearms later that day. The officer later learned 'that she had reported the theft of the guns (to Peel Regional Police) early in the morning on February 15, 2022,' said the decision. 'She told the police that she had just got home from work and went into her safe to take photos of the firearms for the firearms officer, when she discovered that her firearms, ammunition, ($5,000 in cash she was saving up for her brother's birthday), and silver bars were missing. All of her firearms were missing except for two long guns.' Do told investigators that she'd been in her safe a few weeks earlier and all her guns were there at the time, said the decision. 'The only person she believed could have committed the theft was a man she was having an affair with (for a year and a half) and who she had just broke up with. His name was Alex. He was a Sri Lankan man, who she met in Barrie. His last name was too long for her to remember. She believed Alex knew where she kept the key to her safe. She had deleted any contact information for him after the breakup. She did not have camera surveillance.' Do lived in the basement of her parents' home. Her safe, hidden in the back of her closet, was opened when police arrived, said the decision. 'It showed no visual signs of damage. She still had one shot gun and one long gun, and some empty firearm cases.' Do told investigators 'that she liked to collect guns,' said the decision. 'She explained that she had a lot of the same type of guns because she wanted to gift some to her husband when he got his (possession and acquisition licence).' Police didn't see any 'signs of forced entry' at the home and the only windows in the basement where Do lived were too small for anyone to fit through, said the decision. 'When asked what she liked about the firearms, she said she liked that they 'go pow,' and she liked the loud noise. She stated that she has not shot any of her guns, but she wanted a collection. She planned to eventually go to a range and fire them.' A few weeks later, Peel Regional Police learned that on Nov. 18, 2021, the Hamilton Police Service searched a home in Scarborough and found 11 firearms in a safe. 'This was three months before Ms. Do reported the theft of her firearms,' said the decision. Several of the guns had their serial numbers filed off, but police were able to identify three of them as registered to Do. On May 13, 2022, an officer with the specialized enforcement bureau, which focuses on major drug investigations, gangs and firearms, got involved. 'He was advised of the reported theft from Ms. Do's apartment, the number of guns that she had and how three of them were recovered prior to the reported theft,' said the decision. 'There were suspicions that she was 'straw purchaser' — someone who purchases firearms legally, but then provides them illegally to others.' In an interview with investigators, when asked why she had so many firearms, Do 'said that she likes to practice target shooting. She purchased three Glock 19's because she was going to give one to her husband and the other for her 13-year-old son, when he got older. She wanted to purchase her firearms then in case the government banned them all later.' In 2020 and 2021, Do worked in a nail salon in Barrie and at the Marriot Hotel in Toronto. 'In total, Ms. Do declared gross earnings of $60,742 over 2020 and 2021. During the same period, she spent $12,678.46 on a combination of restricted and unrestricted weapons, and ammunition,' said the judge. 'In January 2022, she paid for an (additional five) firearms, which totalled $3,410.31. From this, I can infer that she spent approximately one-third of her net income from 2020 to early 2022 on firearm purchases.' Do 'testified that she was able to afford the firearms because she didn't have many expenses,' said the decision. She claimed to have a problem with 'impulse purchasing.' Do never made an insurance claim for the missing cash or silver bars she said were stolen with her guns. 'I do not accept Ms. Do's evidence that she was robbed of her firearms,' Fowler Byrne said. 'Nor does her evidence leave me with a reasonable doubt about any of the elements of the offences.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Retired judge arrested over mass student disappearance in Mexico
Mexican authorities on Wednesday arrested a former senior judge in connection with the disappearance and presumed murders of 43 students a decade ago. Lambertina Galeana, who faces charges of forced disappearance, is accused of helping to conceal videos that allegedly showed the incident unfolding, a government statement said. Security camera videos allegedly captured the moment the students were kidnapped by armed men right in front of a judicial building, El Pais reported. In 2022, a commission concluded that Galeana ordered the videos destroyed because the images "were not clear due to technical problems," the outlet reported. The case, one of the violence-plagued country's worst human rights atrocities, has become emblematic of a missing persons crisis that has seen more than 120,000 people disappear. Galeana, now retired, was president of the Superior Court of Justice in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where the students from a rural teacher training college disappeared in September 2014. So far, the remains of only three of the missing students have been found and identified, and relatives denounce impunity. The students from the Ayotzinapa school — whose members have a history of political activism — had commandeered buses to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City when they went missing. Investigators believe they were abducted by a drug cartel with the help of corrupt police, although exactly what happened is unclear. In 2022, a truth commission set up by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government branded the case a "state crime" and said the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence. That same year, federal agents arrested former Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who oversaw the original investigation. The commission found that the army was aware of what was happening and had real-time information about the kidnapping and disappearance. One theory the commission put forward was that cartel members targeted the students because they had unknowingly taken a bus with drugs hidden inside. The incident drew international condemnation and shocked a nation where criminal violence, much of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed around 480,000 lives since 2006. Sneak peek: Fatal First Date Trump teases "good news" on Russia-Ukraine war Blake Shelton talks new music, life with Gwen Stefani and "The Road"
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Retired judge arrested in connection with disappearance and presumed murders of 43 students in Mexico
Mexican authorities on Wednesday arrested a former senior judge in connection with the disappearance and presumed murders of 43 students a decade ago. Lambertina Galeana, who faces charges of forced disappearance, is accused of helping to conceal videos that allegedly showed the incident unfolding, a government statement said. Security camera videos allegedly captured the moment the students were kidnapped by armed men right in front of a judicial building, El Pais reported. In 2022, a commission concluded that Galeana ordered the videos destroyed because the images "were not clear due to technical problems," the outlet reported. The case, one of the violence-plagued country's worst human rights atrocities, has become emblematic of a missing persons crisis that has seen more than 120,000 people disappear. Galeana, now retired, was president of the Superior Court of Justice in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, where the students from a rural teacher training college disappeared in September 2014. So far, the remains of only three of the missing students have been found and identified, and relatives denounce impunity. The students from the Ayotzinapa school — whose members have a history of political activism — had commandeered buses to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City when they went missing. Relatives and sympathizers of 43 missing Ayotzinapa university students march with a banner displaying the portraits and names of the students, on the ninth anniversary of their disappearance, in Mexico City, Sept. 26, 2023. Marco Ugarte / AP Investigators believe they were abducted by a drug cartel with the help of corrupt police, although exactly what happened is unclear. In 2022, a truth commission set up by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government branded the case a "state crime" and said the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence. That same year, federal agents arrested former Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who oversaw the original investigation. The commission found that the army was aware of what was happening and had real-time information about the kidnapping and disappearance. One theory the commission put forward was that cartel members targeted the students because they had unknowingly taken a bus with drugs hidden inside. The incident drew international condemnation and shocked a nation where criminal violence, much of it linked to drug trafficking, has claimed around 480,000 lives since 2006.
