The simple fact of speaking to a stranger at the exit of a bar in Montreal would have earned a young man with no history to be stabbed by someone close to the mafia, we learned on Tuesday at the trial of this latest.
“I saw the blood flowing on the sidewalk, on my shoes. I was convinced I was going to die,” said the 29-year-old, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.
He was testifying on the first day of the trial of Nicola Spagnolo, charged with aggravated assault.
Photo Agence QMI, Maxime Deland
Nicola Spagnolo, considered to be close to the mafia, is on trial for aggravated assault.
The alleged facts allegedly occurred when leaving the Boho bar in Old Montreal, on the night of August 2, 2020.
At the end of the evening, the alleged victim was smoking a cigarette outside, casually chatting with a man and a woman. The situation suddenly got out of hand.
“I started talking to them, everything was fine then at one point I spoke to the lady. The gentleman told me to ‘shut my mouth,’” said the witness, admitting that he was then intoxicated.
The tone quickly rose between the two men, who threw insults at each other.
“An employee of the bar arrived, he told me that I did not want any problems with the gentleman with whom I was yelling,” he added, specifying that he did not know who the man was. in question.
The young man then felt a blow to his stomach. It was when he saw blood on his hands that he realized he had just been stabbed. He then ran into the street, where he was helped by passers-by.
“I kept saying, ‘He stabbed me, he really stabbed me, he’s crazy!’ In my head, we were not there, “he told judge Yves Paradis, who is presiding over the trial, at the Montreal courthouse.
According to him, barely five minutes passed between the moment he spoke to the man and the woman in the street and the moment he was stabbed.
“He was very aggressive, unfortunately I followed the aggressiveness in my remarks, and it escalated very quickly,” added the witness.
He was injured on one side. But due to internal bleeding, he had to be operated on again and still has a thirty centimeter scar on his stomach.
Nicola Spagnolo was arrested a few days later. The alleged victim identified him during an identification parade, when he was met by investigators at his home on his release from hospital.
“I took a moment to analyze the photos and respond as best I could. I was afraid of making a mistake and accusing someone who had done nothing,” he said.
According to information from police sources, Spagnolo is close to the Rizzuto clan. His father Vincenzo was notably the confidant and right-hand man of the ex-godfather of the Montreal mafia Vito Rizzuto.
The trial continues today with the cross-examination of the alleged victim.
Several images from surveillance cameras near the crime scene will be filed at trial.
