Kenny Morin leaves Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Crime

Testimony wraps up at Morin murder trial

Jan 25, 2022 | 6:00 PM

A man responsible for the death of a long time Prince Albert city bus driver, admitted he was smoking meth, drinking vodka straight and snorting cocaine prior to the assault.

Kenny Morin, 22, stands charged with second degree murder and robbery in connection to the death of David Maxemiuk in March 2020.

The 60-year-old former city bus driver was found early in the afternoon, lying on his back, unconscious, and near his garage. One of the police officers who arrived on scene, testified Maxemiuk was unrecognizble due to the amount of swelling on his face and head. He passed away in hospital five days later.

Defence has focused its case on Morin’s state of mind at the time of the incident, arguing that while Morin was responsible for the death, there was no actual intent to kill.

Among Michael Nolin’s final questions on Tuesday, he asked Morin how much drugs and alcohol he had consumed the morning prior to meeting Maxemiuk. Morin explained how he and his friends were drinking vodka straight, smoking shards of meth, and he personally had snorted about two grams of cocaine. Nolin then asked Morin if he thought that was a lot of cocaine.

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“Yup, I would say that,” Morin replied casually.

During Monday’s testimony, Morin had explained the reason he attacked Maxemiuk in the back alley, just moments after asking for a cigarette, was because he thought Maxemiuk had disrespected him by uttering a swear word. On Tuesday, Nolin asked Morin what he was trying to do when he assaulted Maxemiuk.

“First of all I wasn’t trying to kill him .. I was trying to hurt him…take whatever he had,” Morin replied.

After knocking Maxemiuk to the ground, Morin proceeded to stomp on him until he stopped moving. At that point Morin then went through Maxemiuk’s pockets and took four credit cards before continuing on his way.

When given the opportunity to cross examine Morin, Crown lawyer Kristen Hubbard first requested a 30-minute recess, and when she returned said she had no questions for Morin.

The case has been adjourned to Friday afternoon for closing arguments and submissions with respect to possible sentencing. It’s expected a further adjournment will then be taken to give Justice G. Meschesnick time to review all what was said during the trial.

If convicted of second degree murder, Morin faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with no parole for 10 years, but sentences can be as long as life in prison without parole for 25 years.

If found not guilty, it’s expected Morin will be sentenced on the lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries no minimum sentence but typically falls in the range of four to 15 years.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell