Muhammad Venne was stabbed and killed in June, 2020. His young son is now 7 years old. (Submitted/ Shivon Venne)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Bell’s Point murder case reaches halfway mark

Mar 9, 2023 | 5:01 PM

Who was the actual person who fought with and stabbed Muhammad Venne?

That was among the key themes during day four of Keegan Nelson-Smith’s trial at Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench. The 23-year-old from Hall Lake is facing a charge of second degree murder in the June, 2020 death of Muhammad Venne.

Venne, who was 29 at the time, was stabbed multiple times, during an altercation outside a house at Bell’s Point. He was later pronounced deceased in hospital.

According to testimony heard Thursday, Venne, along with a number of family members had gathered at the house the previous night for a wake. Over the course of the night, a lot of people were drinking, and some even using mushrooms.

At one point when tensions got too high, Venne along with others opted to go for a walk. It was during that time he was involved in an altercation and was stabbed three times. One of the Crown’s witnesses on Wednesday described finding a bloodied Venne and holding him until paramedics arrived.

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Muhammad Venne loved spendin time outdoors. (Submitted/ Shivon Venne)

Dennis McLeod, the Crown’s final witness on Thursday, was among those at the house, and confirmed that hours after Venne was stabbed, he was in fact contacted by a family member and accused of causing Venne’s death.

Defence lawyer Michael Nolin started his cross examination of McLeod by noting McLeod had initially been scheduled to testify on Monday, but claimed to have COVID.

When asked about it on Thursday, McLeod denied having COVID and also acknowledged he was brought to court by RCMP, having been arrested the night prior on a warrant.

During his nearly two hours on the witness stand, McLeod was also questioned on whether he was selling drugs the night of the wake, why he was beat up by other family members, and why he was at one point told to leave the house.

McLeod, who admitted to drinking in excess and using marijuana that night, said he could not recall why he was beat up.

Due to the amount of inconsistencies with McLeod’s testimony, Justice R.W, Danyluk agreed at one point to a two-hour adjournment, to allow McLeod time to review the statement he provided to police in Sept. 2020.

Upon his return in the afternoon, McLeod was then asked by Crown to view two separate videos, which confirmed he was with Nelson-Smith the morning Venne was stabbed.

The trial has been adjourned to Monday, at which time Defence will begin its case.

It’s not clear at this stage of proceedings whether Nelson-Smith will be testify on his own behalf.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell