THUNDER BAY - A witness who testified to being in Chapples Park the night of Sept. 2, 2014 with Jonathan Massicotte and a second accused said he saw them both beat up 32-year-old William Wapoose, but he was questioned as to why he never came forward to police with the information.
The witness, who was a youth at the time of the incident, was called to testify on day three of the second-degree murder trial against Massicotte for his alleged role in the death of Wapoose.
Wapoose’s body was found near a bike path along the south end of Chapples Park Drive the morning of Sept. 3, 2014. Earlier testimony revealed that Wapoose suffered numerous injuries, including stab wounds to the back, blunt trauma to the head and face, and he died from blood loss as a result of a stab wound to the neck.
A five-year investigation resulted in Massicotte being arrested in March 2019 and charged with first-degree murder, along with a second accused who was a youth at the time of the alleged offence. The second accused will stand trial on the charge of second-degree murder in October 2022.
Crown attorney Trevor Jukes asked the witness about the events of Sept. 2, 2014, with the witness saying he was drinking at Massicotte’s residence in the afternoon along with the second accused and another individual.
The other individual became very intoxicated and the three others walked him home through the Friendship Gardens to his residence in the Northwood area while it was still light out.
On the way back, now in the dark, the three cut through Chapples Park where the witness said he observed Massicotte with a pole that was approximately three-feet in length and weighing 30 pounds.
Along Chapples Park drive, the witness said they came across an intoxicated man on the ground slumped over against a lamppost. They observed the man had a bag with the contents spread around, so they gathered everything up, put it back in the bag, and placed the bag next to the man without speaking to him before continuing down the path toward the skate park across the river.
“At this point, [the second accused] said we should go back and take his stuff,” the witness testified. “Jonathan agreed but I can’t remember what they said.”
“They proceed to beat him up,” the witness added. “They walked up to him and started punching and kicking him.”
The witness then testified that the two dragged the man into the ditch and continued to punch and kick him and that Massicotte hit him on the back of the head with the pole.
“I couldn’t really see anything. I just saw them kicking him and after that I couldn’t really see after they dragged him to the ditch,” the witness said, adding that they then grabbed his bag and threw the contents everywhere.
The witness testified that he just wanted to go home and felt scared for his own well-being. He then said he took the man’s bike that was near some trees and rode home.
Following the incident, the witness said he was made aware of the homicide investigation into Wapoose’s death through news reports and he still had contact with Massicotte for approximately a year, but he never said anything about what happened. He added that he feared what might happen to his family if he went to the police and that the second accused always carried around a knife.
During cross-examination by defense counsel George Joseph, the witness was questioned about his ability to remember details from the night of Sept. 2, 2014, including his level of intoxication and the time that had elapsed since the incident.
“You are unclear about the mechanics of what happened,” Joseph said. “I’m suggesting to you that because of your intoxication and passage of time you have an unclear memory of exactly what happened to that individual, is that fair?”
“Yeah,” the witness said.
Joseph also questioned the witness on why they walked through Chapples Park, having avoided it earlier that night because it was seen as being a dangerous location, suggesting that they either did not go through Chapples Park or did so to look for trouble.
“I disagree,” the witness replied.
Why he chose to follow Massicotte and the second accused to steal from the man in the park was also put to the witness by Joseph and why he did not intervene after the assault started.
The witness said he was naive in his decisions and that if he ran he felt like they "would have got me."
“You did leave,” Joseph said. “No one said they were going to hurt you. Why do you come to that conclusion?”
“It was just how I felt,” the witness said.
Joseph then went on to ask why the witness did not go to police having known that the man who was assaulted in the park died and his death was being investigated as a homicide.
“The reason you didn’t go to the police is because you knew you were involved in that beating on Mr. Wapoose,” Joseph said. “You knew you had done something wrong at Chapples Park in 2014, correct?”
“Correct,” the witness replied.
“To put it bluntly, you’re the guy who beat up Mr. Wapoose,” Joseph added.
“I disagree,” the witness said.
During a brief re-examination by Jukes, the witness was asked to clarify why he did not go to police and what he felt he had done wrong that night.
“Not helping him,” the witness said.
The trial will continue on Thursday. Massicotte has pleaded not guilty to the charges before the court.
