The bush party homicide trial continued Thursday, but with only one, not two, defendants.
When the Superior Court jury arrived in the courtroom after a week-long hiatus, only Carlos Guerra Guerra, 23, and his defence lawyer Ricardo Golec were seated at the defence table and ready to continue the second-degree murder trial in the shooting death of Josue Silva, 18, on July 31, 2021.
Missing from the defence side of the courtroom was Emily Altmann, 22, who had been on trial with Guerra Guerra, and her legal defence team of Nathan Gorham and Breana Vandebeek.
“You’ll note that Ms. Altmann is no longer before the court. I’ve also excused her counsel, Mr. Gorham and Ms. Vandebeek, from this trial,” Superior Court Justice Patricia Moore told the jury. “I am instructing you that you must not speculate as to the reason for her absence.
“We will carry on the trial for Mr. Guerra Guerra only. Ms. Altmann’s absence has no bearing on your verdict in relation to Mr. Guerra Guerra.”
Guerra Guerra has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Silva and not guilty to assault with a weapon of Logan Marshall at a mid-summer southwest London bush party attended by more than 100 young people.
The last time the jury attended the trial was on Nov. 21, when they were told the Crown was no longer proceeding with a second-degree murder charge against Altmann, but would move forward with the included offence of manslaughter.
The jury was supposed to return Monday, but their presence wasn’t required until Thursday.
The only Crown witness Thursday was Jamie Falardeau, 21, one of four young women who attended the party with Altmann. The last witness from whom the jury heard before Altmann exited the trial was Jamie Falardeau’s sister Jessica, 19, who was 15 at the time of the shooting.
Jamie Falardeau, responding to questions from assistant Crown attorney Kristina Mildred, said Altmann became angry at the party when someone took a photo of their group.
Altmann and friend Lina Latif were “freaking out a little bit about it,” Falardeau said. Then, they were hit by a drink.
“I just remember seeing someone wearing a black hoodie kind of throw a drink and run away,” she said adding the person “threw a couple of drinks at other people.”
She said she recognized the drink thrower was Isabella Restrepo, based on the clothing she was wearing. The group Restrepo was with was “being a bit rambunctious.” Altmann was hit in the back and some of the liquid splashed on Falardeau.
Falardeau said she ignored what happened, but Altmann, with Latif standing beside her, was not happy and started yelling at Restrepo.
“I remember wanting to stay out of it,” Falardeau said because she knew Restrepo and her friend Rachel Johnson. “I didn’t want to get involved.”
But the others were “being stupid with each other,” Falardeau said. Restrepo and Johnson, Falardeau said, were calm, even laughing, while Altmann and Latif yelled at them.
Marshall, who was Restrepo’s boyfriend at the time, and Latif’s boyfriend stepped into the argument. Falardeau said Marshall and his friends were challenging Latif’s boyfriend, who was the only male in Altmann’s group. He picked up Latif, threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the party with her still “yelling stupid stuff back.”
“I was just kind of over it all. I just wanted to go home at that point,” Falardeau said. The group went back to Altmann’s car. Up to that point, Falardeau said she didn’t see any weapons and there was no discussion about weapons.
But Altmann was still angry, she said, and she told the group in the car when they were driving around the block that she was “going to call some people to handle it for her.” She never heard Altmann say anything about a gun or anyone getting shot.
Falardeau said she told Altmann they would go home, but “she was drunk and she wouldn’t listen to me.”
After Altmann made the call, Falardeau said she and her sister went with Altmann. Falardeau said she wanted to go back to the party to say goodbye to a friend.
At the corner, they waved down a Dodge Journey, which the jury has heard was Guerra Guerra’s. Two masked men and two women got out. Falardeau said she saw one of the men had a knife and “it kind of freaked me out a bit.”
Falardeau said she wasn’t introduced to the men, but “I thought (Altmann) was dating one of them.”
Falardeau said she went back to the fire but couldn’t find her friend. Instead, she hung out with her sister and her friends, while Altmann and her group, now joined by Latif, were looking for the people who had insulted her.
After about 10 minutes, Altmann told her “they didn’t find these people and we’re leaving now.”
They started down the path leading back to the car when Latif shone her cellphone flashlight into the bushes. There were people crouched down and Falardeau said Altmann asked her, “Is that them?”
Falardeau said she may have said “not sure, maybe or yes… I wish I hadn’t said anything. None of this would have happened.”
First out of the bushes was Marshall’s friend Matt Swan, then Marshall, then a male she did not know. She was focused on Marshall, because she knew him, and he was “running away”’ from the masked men when he was jumped.
The third man out of the bushes was tackled, too. “I didn’t see any weapons at all,” she said. “It happened so fast.”
There were two scuffles playing out on the ground. Then came the gunshot, and Falardeau grabbed her sister and ran. “I felt scared. I wasn’t expecting anyone to get shot. I felt terrible that it had happened. I was expecting a fist fight.
“I felt horrible. I was really scared,” she said.
They ran to Altmann’s car where Altmann was “hysterical and drunk and driving,” Falardeau said. She said she had not brought her phone with her, and even if she had, she said she would have been too scared to all 911 because Altmann “told us not to say anything about any of this.”
And Altmann had a text from one of the masked men ordering them to keep quiet or else. They all agreed they would tell the police they had left the party at 12:30 a.m., before the shooting occurred.
Falardeau admitted she spoke to her sister and the others about it and “I guess we saw things pretty differently that night.” Rumours began to circulate that Falardeau and her boyfriend, who wasn’t at the party, were involved.
When the police did interview her, she said she abandoned the plan and “I told the police the whole truth about everything.”
In cross-examination, Golec took Falardeau through a series of Snapchat messages before she spoke to the police where she challenged the rumours that she was involved.
The trial continues on Friday.