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It’s pretty hard to persuade a jury that you didn’t mean to kill when you came in latex gloves, and armed with a knife.
And on Friday, after a 14-week trial, a jury found Carson Morin guilty of first-degree murder in the throat-slitting death of Mike Wassill.
Morin, who had dreams of running a stripper network from his Orléans condo, was sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years.
Morin’s mother sobbed as the verdict was read, and the young killer stood slumped over the glass of the prisoner’s box.
It wasn’t a Whodunnit? case, with the jury hearing early on that Morin, 24, admitted he slashed Wassill’s throat but didn’t plan to, nor did he intend to kill.
Morin took the stand in his own defence at trial and tried to explain away his deadly path on May 15, 2013. He said a stripper owed him money and he was behind in rent, and needed it badly. The stripper had sought refuge at Wassill’s Orléans home. Wassill spent his last act in life trying to protect his friend from the rage of a cold-blooded killer, prosecutors told the jury.
Morin told the jury he had problems in the past, with him dodging bullets in the streets from rivals, and it was out of fear that he armed himself with a box-cutter when he showed up at Wassill’s house to collect his money, or as he called it, “my paper.”
And he said he slipped on latex gloves because it calmed his nerves and boosted his confidence, and when it came to recounting the moment he slit Wassill’s throat, Morin wanted the jury to believe that “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“It was for my own protection. It was a last resort. I didn’t intend to use it,” he testified.
The jury didn’t buy it.
In closing arguments earlier this week, Morin’s defence lawyer Leo Russomanno urged the jury to convict him of manslaughter, saying the murder case against Morin fell short, and that his client didn’t intend, nor plan to kill Wassill. Russomanno noted that Morin’s post-offence behaviour alone plainly showed that his client did anything but plan out the killing.
The Crown was looking for a first-degree murder conviction and presented Morin as a lying killer. His victim, Wassill, was known to friends and family as a standup guy who was always there when you needed him.
The jury heard Morin panicked after the killing, and ran at the sight of Wassill grabbing at his bleeding neck. Morin later turned himself in to police, but not before changing his clothes and dumping the bloody knife and gloves.
His other defence lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, told the jury Morin had been wracked with guilt.
In his opening address to the jury, Assistant Crown Attorney Jason Neubauer said it wasn’t a case of a jealous boyfriend who killed for love, but rather greed.
“She wanted out and Mr. Morin wouldn’t stand for it … and Mr. Morin’s refusal to let her go led to the death of Mike (Wassill),” Neubauer told the jury.
Prosecutors noted Morin’s own texts showed he was brooding about revenge.
“You ever see me snap on a b—? you’re gonna,” he texted someone in the days leading to killing.
The trial also heard about Morin’s plans to start a stripper empire. Morin installed a stripper pole in his Orléans condo, complete with mirrors, so his new recruits could nail down their dance sets. He gave advice on what they should wear — “stripping is all about looking good,” he said — and helped come up with stage names and pick the music for their dancing routines.
The jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon.
More to come
查看原文...
And on Friday, after a 14-week trial, a jury found Carson Morin guilty of first-degree murder in the throat-slitting death of Mike Wassill.
Morin, who had dreams of running a stripper network from his Orléans condo, was sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years.
Morin’s mother sobbed as the verdict was read, and the young killer stood slumped over the glass of the prisoner’s box.
It wasn’t a Whodunnit? case, with the jury hearing early on that Morin, 24, admitted he slashed Wassill’s throat but didn’t plan to, nor did he intend to kill.
Morin took the stand in his own defence at trial and tried to explain away his deadly path on May 15, 2013. He said a stripper owed him money and he was behind in rent, and needed it badly. The stripper had sought refuge at Wassill’s Orléans home. Wassill spent his last act in life trying to protect his friend from the rage of a cold-blooded killer, prosecutors told the jury.
Morin told the jury he had problems in the past, with him dodging bullets in the streets from rivals, and it was out of fear that he armed himself with a box-cutter when he showed up at Wassill’s house to collect his money, or as he called it, “my paper.”
And he said he slipped on latex gloves because it calmed his nerves and boosted his confidence, and when it came to recounting the moment he slit Wassill’s throat, Morin wanted the jury to believe that “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“It was for my own protection. It was a last resort. I didn’t intend to use it,” he testified.
The jury didn’t buy it.
In closing arguments earlier this week, Morin’s defence lawyer Leo Russomanno urged the jury to convict him of manslaughter, saying the murder case against Morin fell short, and that his client didn’t intend, nor plan to kill Wassill. Russomanno noted that Morin’s post-offence behaviour alone plainly showed that his client did anything but plan out the killing.
The Crown was looking for a first-degree murder conviction and presented Morin as a lying killer. His victim, Wassill, was known to friends and family as a standup guy who was always there when you needed him.
The jury heard Morin panicked after the killing, and ran at the sight of Wassill grabbing at his bleeding neck. Morin later turned himself in to police, but not before changing his clothes and dumping the bloody knife and gloves.
His other defence lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, told the jury Morin had been wracked with guilt.
In his opening address to the jury, Assistant Crown Attorney Jason Neubauer said it wasn’t a case of a jealous boyfriend who killed for love, but rather greed.
“She wanted out and Mr. Morin wouldn’t stand for it … and Mr. Morin’s refusal to let her go led to the death of Mike (Wassill),” Neubauer told the jury.
Prosecutors noted Morin’s own texts showed he was brooding about revenge.
“You ever see me snap on a b—? you’re gonna,” he texted someone in the days leading to killing.
The trial also heard about Morin’s plans to start a stripper empire. Morin installed a stripper pole in his Orléans condo, complete with mirrors, so his new recruits could nail down their dance sets. He gave advice on what they should wear — “stripping is all about looking good,” he said — and helped come up with stage names and pick the music for their dancing routines.
The jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon.
More to come
查看原文...
