Victim's wife relives day of beating in assault retrial

The wife of an Edmonton man, beaten into a semi-vegetative state seven years ago, spent a gruelling two hours on the witness stand in the accused attacker's retrial.

Lesley Miller thought the case was over when Leo Teskey was convicted of aggravated assault and later designated a dangerous offender. But the Supreme Court set aside those rulings and awarded him a retrial, finding the original judge took too long in issuing his written reasons.

"I hated it," Miller said. "I thought all this was past me."

In court Wednesday, Miller described the morning in 2000 whenher husband, Dougald Miller, was attacked. She arrived at the apartment building he managed, seekingto meet him for lunch, but it was surrounded by media and police tape.

Dougald Miller, now 67, had tried to escort out a man who was sleeping in the building. He was beaten so savagely, the letter carrier, who had known Dougald Miller for 10 years, didn't recognize him.

Lesley Miller told the court she went to the hospital where her husband was undergoing surgery and could identify him only by a birthmark on his leg.

At one point during her testimony, Miller glared across the room at Teskey, now 37. He met her stare then quickly looked away.

"I hated having to sit in the same room as that — how can I describe him — a waste of space," she told reporters after.

"He looked completely different. And I thought you're sitting there so smug. You can dress up and you can come to court. You can walk. You can talk. You can eat. My husband can't do any of that now."

Dougald Miller, who now lives in a long-term care facility, suffered severe brain trauma, is partially paralyzed and can only communicate by blinking.

Lesley Miller is now trying to make the necessary medical arrangements to have her husband, who is confined to a bed, brought to the courthouse on Friday for the trial because, she said, she wants the judge to see Teskey's alleged victim before he reaches a verdict.