'Wrong place at the wrong time,' says man who claims he was tortured for money
A Torbay man testified Wednesday that he was beaten and tortured for money last July during an incident that was evidently so traumatic he has been allowed to tell the court his story by a video link.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Eric Kirby told the St. John's provincial court trial of Paradise resident Justin Jennings, 31.
Kirby told the court he was driving with a friend who had been having problems with her boyfriend, and that they stopped in Paradise, where things took a bizarre turn. In later testimony, though, the court heard an alternate reason for Kirby's drive.
Kirby said they were held up by an elderly couple who demanded money, and took a pill bottle from the woman. The couple then fled the scene.
Shortly after that, Kirby said another man jumped in the car and held a knife to his throat and made them drive to a nearby house in Paradise.
There, Kirby said he was punched in the face, dragged on the floor and threatened with having his limbs cut off.
Witness admits he dealt drugs
Under cross-examination, Kirby admitted he was dealing in drugs at the time.
Lawyer Stephen Orr, who represents Jennings, put it to Kirby that he had gone to Paradise and bought more than $5,000 worth of the narcotic Dilaudid to give to a friend to sell at Bull Arm, and that he ripped off the dealer.
Kirby said the men who assaulted him claimed that, but that he would never deal in that amount.
"You can lose your life over $5,000, which I almost did," he said.
Kirby claims that when they were demanding the money, they drove a rifle barrel down his throat.
Orr pointed out that he rifle that was seized by the police had no DNA on it.
When Kirby was shown a rifle during Wednesday's proceedings, he said it wasn't the one that had been put down his throat.
Kirby testified Tuesday that two men threatened to cut off his fingers, an arm or leg if he didn't get him the money.
Kirby, who said he doesn't know if he was set up by his friend, said the incident has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, which, he said, affects his memory.
Paradise trip happened for drug deal: passenger
On Wednesday afternoon, the court heard testimony from a woman who backed up at least part of the defence's theory.
Heather Wheeler testified that she was the woman in the car that night with Kirby, and that he had asked her to set up a deal so that he could buy Dilaudid.
Wheeler told the court that she made arrangements, and then took Kirby to Justin Jennings's house in Paradise to make the purchase.
She said that when they got there, Jennings gave them about $5,500 worth of the drug, but that Kirby didn't have the money to pay for it.
Wheeler said Kirby told her to drive back to an Irving gas station, where she thought he would go to the ATM to get cash. She said that's when they were robbed of half of the drugs.
The trial is slated to last through the week.
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