***WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS FOLLOW***
It was just hours after a pair of Calgary men met back in 2013 that one of them ended up being stabbed to death, the court heard on Monday.
The Crown and defence submitted their final arguments in the murder trial of Nicolas Rasberry on October 19.
Rasberry has been charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of Craig Kelloway, his neighbour.
In May 2013, the pair got to know each other over a barbecue and drinks. Later that night, Rasberry made a call to 911, saying he’d stabbed Kelloway.
During the trial, the medical examiner said that Kelloway was stabbed 37 times and his chest cavity, lungs, ribs, intestine, and diaphragm were punctured in the attack.
The expert said the incident was so violent that knife fragments, including the tip, were left in Kelloway’s body.
Three bloody knives were found in the home, along with a large amount of blood.
Rasberry claims he acted in self-defence and admitted to stabbing Kelloway in a police interview.
“There was a knife block and I grabbed a knife and I stabbed him. Reached around and got him in the back a couple times.”
He says that Kelloway threatened to have sex with him and then rape his wife, who was sleeping upstairs in the home.
“I made the decision to defend myself but I felt like I had to put him down. The last thing I wanted for him is for him to die, the last thing.”
CPS detective Trish Allen questioned why Rasberry felt he needed to use three knives to prevent Kelloway’s actions.
“His injuries are really bad,” she told Rasberry during the interview. “He’s got multiple stab wounds. He’s been eviscerated; his bowel’s hanging out.”
Crown prosecutor says Rasberry, who didn’t testify in his own defence during the trial, doesn’t explain why there was so much blood in the living room of the Auburn Bay home or why he felt he needed to use so many knives to defend himself.
The judge is expected to deliver his verdict on October 28.
(With files from Ina Sidhu)
