Accused takes stand in attempted murder trial for 2015 attack in Lethbridge

On Friday, the accused took the stand as the defence presented its case in an attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault trial stemming from an attack on a woman in Lethbridge in 2015.

On May 3, 2015, a 17-year-old male was charged with a violent sexual assault and attempted murder of a 45-year-old woman in the Palm Road area of Lethbridge.

Police said the woman was asleep when she was sexually assaulted. She also had her throat cut. The woman survived, but died later due to an unrelated cause.

Nearly three years later, the defence is presenting its case to the court. The accused’s name is under a publication ban because he was a minor at the time of the alleged offence.

The now-20-year-old man was called to the stand by the defence and he went through his version of events.

He said he never sexually assaulted anyone or cut anybody’s throat.

He also said on the night the woman was attacked, he walked around the Galt Gardens area for several hours. He later went out drinking at night clubs before returning to his sister’s residence where he went to sleep at around 3 a.m., he testified.

He said he was awoken by police banging on the door and arrested on an outstanding warrant.

He said police asked him why there was blood on his clothing.

The accused said he got into “scraps often” and the blood on his clothes could be from a fight a few days before involving both men and women.

The accused also told the court he wasn’t drunk on the night of the incident. He said he had seven shots and two beers, adding it usually takes two 26-ounce bottles of liquor to get him fully intoxicated.

During cross-examination, the Crown said the accused entered the apartment where the victim was sleeping uninvited through the balcony.

The accused said he didn’t and denied any involvement in the attack.

Final submission will take place at the Lethbridge Courthouse on Feb. 20.