Comment about Metallica leads to fatal bus beating
Canadian Press
Jan. 3, 2007 10:33 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/ar...ating03-ON.html
EDMONTON - A man who died after a scuffle on a city transit bus had been in a heated argument with youths about the rock band Metallica, two teens testified in court Tuesday.
A 15-year-old witness testified at a preliminary hearing into Stefan Conley's death that the 35-year-old had told the young people they had no taste in heavy metal music.
Conley, who was originally from Cookshire, Que., then got angry when one of the teens he ridiculed undid his belt and a top button in an invitation to perform a sex act on him, the witness said.
Conley, who stood 5 feet 11 inches and weighed 198 pounds, got up and grabbed the youth, said the 15-year-old, who was also a passenger on the Edmonton transit bus the night of March 2.
The teen Conley grabbed yelled at the older man and told him to get away from him. Three other teens then jumped up and began punching Conley and yelling at him to leave their friend alone, the witness testified.
The punches were "hard punches, giving it all they got." The witness figured Conley was punched between five and 10 times in the face.
The 15-year-old wasn't among those charged in Conley's death.
Four teens are charged with manslaughter and are in youth court for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial. There is no publication ban, but the four cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The hearing resumed Tuesday as Montreal police were looking for two suspects after a female bus driver in that city was attacked and beaten with a beer bottle. The 39-year-old woman had gone to the back of her bus to ask two young men to stop drinking.
In Edmonton, the passenger testified the attack on Conley lasted about 10 seconds and the youths stopped punching him once he let go of their friend.
The witness said Conley appeared dazed, but was still standing when the punching stopped. The four youths got off the bus, but one stopped to shove Conley as he left.
The passenger testified the burly man fell backwards and struck his head on the edge of a bus seat before sliding sideways to the floor.
The witness said he heard a crunching sound when Conley hit his head. Conley then started making a loud snoring noise.
The witness also told defence lawyer Ed O'Neill the four teens he saw punched Conley, but at no time did they kick him or stomp on his head.
The witness said he was surprised to hear the next day that Conley had died because he didn't think he had been that badly hurt.
Earlier testimony from a doctor indicated Conley died when a tiny artery at the base of his brain tore, the likely result from a blow to the face or chin. He had a blood-alcohol reading twice the legal impairment level for driving.
A 16-year-old girl testified she and a friend also heard a heated Metallica discussion between Conley and a group of teenagers.
Her account of the argument and fight was almost the same as that of the other teen witness. She also testified the punching stopped once Conley let go of the youth he had grabbed.
The four teens then got off the bus which had come to a stop. The last teen to exit stopped and gave Conley a shove.
"He fell straight backwards and hit his head on the edge of the seat," the girl said.
She added it looked like Conley was reaching for a pole to steady himself before he fell.