Trent Hynne bragged after fatally stabbing his victim, prosecutors say in murder trial

After fatally stabbing Juliano Crawford-Vieira, Trent Hynne bragged about it, threatened witnesses and then tried to hide evidence, prosecutor Meagan Blake said in her opening statement on the first day of the trial.

Hynne is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder after Crawford-Vieira died outside a house party in March 2014.

Two friend groups from Lord Beaverbrook and Henry Wise Wood high schools had been feuding for weeks when members of those groups showed up at the same party on Braniff Road SW, the Crown said.

“When alcohol was added, tensions rose and a loud argument broke out in the basement,” Blake said.

After an initial brawl in the house, the party guests were thrown out and the conflict was carried out into the street, where a “shouting match” quickly escalated into a physical altercation.

Just minutes later, Orest Tako, one of the stabbed men, called 9-1-1 while Crawford-Vieira lay dying on the street with four stab wounds.

“[Crawford-Vieira] took his last breath when the paramedics arrived,” Blake said.

Hynne not only confessed to the stabbings that left Crawford-Vieira dead and Tako injured, but also bragged about them, according to Blake.

The prosecutor also told Court of Queen's Bench Judge Rosemary Nation that Hynne had threatened witnesses and warned that “if they told what they knew, he would kill them too.”

Two passers-by filmed the incident with their mobile phones. The recordings will later be admitted as evidence in the trial.

Hynne is represented by defense attorney Gavin Wolch.

A second man, Roland Smith, was also charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder, but prosecutors said he would plead guilty to aiding and abetting murder next month.

In June, two juveniles were found guilty of manslaughter in connection with Crawford-Vieira. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, they cannot be named.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

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