Appeal rejected in Hamilton bar fight murder
Published October 28, 2022 at 7:51 pm
A convicted murderer jailed for the stabbing death of a man at a Hamilton bar will remain behind bars after a judge threw out his appeal.
The appellant, Samson Aristor, was convicted in 2019 of stabbing a man to death after a series of bar fights at the now-shuttered Coco Bongo in York Blvd.
Aristor and three friends; including Richard Conner, went out to the Coco Bongo on September 10, 2017. There they encountered a group of people with the victim, Reald Vercani. Justice J.A. Benotto dubbed this group “Bajcinca group” in the reasons for dismissal.
When the bar lights came up at 3 a.m. members of the Bajcinca group got into a fight with an associate of the bar’s owner. Aristor and Conner got involved claiming to try to break up the fight.
However, a security guard later testified that Arnistor’s friend was loud and argumentative. The guard said Conner claimed he had been in “the pen” and wasn’t afraid to kill. As a result, the guard ejected Aristor and Conner from the premises.
Arnistor and Connor didn’t leave the area after they were kicked out and waited in a nearby alleyway. They later claimed they were waiting for their other two friends who were still inside. The Crown argued in court that the pair were instead waiting for the Bajcinca group for another confrontation.
After he was ejected, Arnistor was recorded on security cameras bolting across the parking lot. The Crown argued at trial he ran to collect a stashed away knife. However Arnistor claimed he instead went to urinate and had carried the knife all night.
Either way, Arnistor had a 15-centimetre, serrated combat knife on him when he returned.
The pair were by the door when the Bajcinca group came out. Conner and Benny Bajcinca got into an argument. Members of the Bajcinca group, including Vercani, punched and kicked Conner. Arinistor tried to intervene. However he was pushed to the ground and likewise attacked. Witnesses testified that Conner was the group’s main target.
The same security guard from earlier was able to break the up up and send the Bajcinca group on their way. As the group retreated to the parking lot, Arnistor pulled his knife from his waistband.
He walked past the guard approaching the Bajcinca group. The guard saw the knife hidden behind Arnistor’s back as he passed. Fearing he was about to stab someone the guard shouted “knife” and tried to grab Arnistor.
However, Arnistor lunged out of her reach and ran toward the group. He stabbed Vercani once in the chest to the full 15 centimetres of the blade, “pretty hard … just one in one out,” per the guard.
Arnistor would later testify that he was scared he’d be hit again and wanted to flee from the group. There was a clear path to the road, but he instead ran the other way toward the group as “everything as a blur.” He claimed he was brandishing the knife so the group could see it and let him through.
After stabbing Vercani, Arnistor looked at the victim and ran the other way toward the road. He hid under a nearby car with the blade.
At trial, Arnistor argued the stabbing was an act of self-defence. The Crown submitted the death was instead an accident, However, despite a little discussion of this defence it was ultimately not pursued during the trial.
As such the jury was instructed to weigh three options;
- Arnistor stabbed Vercani in self-defence and should be acquitted,
- Arnistor stabbed Vercani with intent to kill or harm and should be convicted of second-degree murder, or
- Arnistor stabbed Vercani but lacked sufficient state of mind for intent, and should be convicted of manslaughter
However, the judge did not instruct the jury to consider the stabbing as a completely unintended act, or an accident. Arnistor’s appeal hinged on the a claim that it should have been considered as a defense in his trial.
He claimed his head was pounding and that he was dizzy and scared. He claims to have no memory or rushing the group or of stabbing Vercani. He claimed also he had no intention of hurting anyone that night.
However, the testimony of the guard, other witnesses, the “very significant forceful” nature of the injury and security footage indicated that that “there is no air of reality to the assertion that the stabbing was accidental or involuntary,” Benotto decided.
As a result Arnistor’s appeal was dismissed. He was initially sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 10 years in 2020. Therefore he will become eligible in 2030.
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