Torture is never acceptable, but such criminals do it like they did to this innocent young lady who happen to be on the sidewalk or in a shopping mall:
First man to be tried in death of Jane Creba guilty of second-degree murder
48 minutes ago
By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - He may not have fired the shot that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba, but by participating in a reckless shootout that sent a hail of gunfire through a street teeming with Boxing Day shoppers, the first man to stand trial in the case must bear responsibility for her death, a jury found Sunday.
Creba's 2005 death sent waves of outrage rippling through Toronto and beyond with dismay over the random shooting of the bright young girl on downtown Toronto's busiest street in the waning hours of the busiest shopping day of the year.
The now 20-year-old man, who can only be identified as J.S.R. because he was under 18 at the time, remained stoic after the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, two of six counts of aggravated assault and five weapons charges.
The Crown exchanged hugs and huge smiles, while the defence was incredulous. Lawyer Mara Greene's tear-stained face spoke volumes about their utter shock.
Outside court, lawyer Gary Grill said "in our combined experiences as defence lawyers, Ms. Greene and I, we've never, ever, ever had a stronger defence case."
They will "obviously" be appealing, he said.
"We maintain our client's innocence and we will not stop fighting as far as we can go in order to make sure that everyone knows that he indeed is innocent."
The defence called no evidence, but in his closing remarks Grill said the Crown's allegations defied common sense.
The Crown alleged the group of men J.S.R. was with that day escalated a confrontation with another man, Jeremiah Valentine, by pulling guns out, which prompted Valentine to allegedly fire the first shot.
One of the shots that came from Valentine's gun is the one that killed Creba, piercing her back and exiting her body at the base of her throat, the Crown said.
In her closing arguments, Crown attorney Kerry Hughes likened it to street racing, and the courts have said if one driver involved in a street race kills a bystander, both drivers are guilty.
Three guns were fired that day: Valentine's .357, a .25-calibre pistol and a 9-mm Ruger.
Though J.S.R. was arrested carrying the 9-mm gun, the defence argued that another man, Louis Woodcock, was the one who fired shots with that gun, then handed it off to a naive and underage J.S.R.
The Crown alleged J.S.R. took Woodcock's gun and began shooting after Valentine fired the first shot.
The fact that Woodcock brought the gun downtown that day and had it when the shooting began was in the agreed statement of facts and apparently gave the jury trouble, as they went back to the judge with a question about it.
Valentine, Woodcock, five other adults and one youth are charged with either second-degree murder or manslaughter in the case and are expected to stand trial next year.
As the jury's deliberations dragged into a fourth day, many began to wonder if the jury of 11 people (one was excused for personal reasons) would in fact be able to reach a unanimous verdict.
"Of course as time went on we all started thinking, as everybody else here did, as to which way it was going to go," lead investigator Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou said
"(But) I knew what the right thing was and I knew that ultimately they would come up with the right decision."
The defence, however, was stunned.
"I can't explain this jury's verdict," Grill said. "Most of the observers can't explain this jury's verdict. It really is confounding for us."
In his closing arguments last week Grill urged the jury not to let anger over Creba's senseless death cloud their judgment, but outside court Sunday he suggested that's exactly what happened.
"That's obviously what goes through our heads right now, but I don't know and we'll never know what this jury was thinking," Grill said.
Kyriacou said he knew the jury would make the right decision.
He said he spoke with the Crebas and they are also satisfied with the verdict.
When Kyriacou heard the word guilty in the courtroom he said many things went through his head, but primarily the young girl who was shot while shopping with her sister then lay dying on the cold street that day.
"We've been thinking about Jane since Dec. 26, 2005," he said.
"We always think about Jane and I'm sure anyone that's a parent or has siblings or loved ones would also think about her."
A date for sentencing will be set on Thursday.
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So, these murderers will not be hanged because that would be torture? Better to hang them instead of letting them murder again, again, again.. innocent peoples ! ?
Here is a pic of Jane, the innocent person shopping....
and the one holding the newspaer is or was the girlfriend of the murderer(s) !!!
