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Killer faces sentencing soon
A Mississauga man convicted of murdering a drug dealer during a robbery inside a Rathburn Rd. apartment building will be sentenced to life in prison.
Etienne Martin, 23, could find out as early as tomorrow, though, how long it will be before he can apply for parole.
Jurors found Martin guilty last spring of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Lamar Philip, 20, of Cooksville, who was killed July 13, 2005.
The verdict means Martin faces an automatic life sentence under the Criminal Code, with no parole for at least 10 years.
Crown prosecutor Brian McGuire and Martin's lawyer, Donald McLeod, will make submissions Friday (Aug. 1) in Brampton court before Justice Terrance O'Connor regarding parole eligibility.
In reaching their decision, jurors didn't believe Martin's testimony that he wasn't the killer. Martin pointed the finger at his friend, Lionel Brown, 22, saying it was he who killed Philip during a drug rip-off.
Brown testified as a Crown witness against Martin. He said it was a masked Martin who delivered the fatal stab wound in the stairwell of the apartment complex, after the two concocted a plan to rob Philip of drugs and cash. They initially met Philip at the complex to purchase cocaine, Brown said.
A fight started when Philip became angry about being robbed and it ended when Martin stabbed him, Brown said.
"It happened so fast," said Brown, who was also charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for his testimony.
"I just assumed (Martin) stabbed him because (Philip) grabbed the side of his body...I just remember (Philip) screaming and grabbing the left side of his body. He had a hole in his shirt."
Martin and Brown made off with a quantity of cocaine and about $300, which were taken from Philip's pockets before the stabbing.
Philip died of a knife wound to his heart.
During the trial, jurors heard that Martin's thumb was also cut during the fight and he left a trail of blood – later linked to him by DNA – from the crime scene to a ground-floor exit door.
lrosella@mississauga.net