Crown completes closing argument at bush party homicide trial

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The “sad truth” about Josue Silva’s shooting death is how senseless it was, the Crown said.

“Josue Silva lost his life over nothing at the hands of Mr. Guerra Guerra,” assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Moser said as she concluded her closing argument Tuesday morning at the lengthy second-degree murder trial.

“Sometimes a situation is exactly what it seems and this is one of those times,” Moser said. In this case, she said, masked and armed men – Carlos Guerra Guerra and his sidekick Dylan Schaap – came uninvited to a bush party full of teenagers to seek out young men they were told harassed their friend Emily Altmann.

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“As they were leaving, they came across their terrified victims, demanded (to know) who they were and when they did, within seconds, one is injured and barely escaped, and the other is shot and dying.”

Moser asked the jury to ignore “red herrings” tossed by the defence that portrayed Guerra Guerra as a victim acting in self-defence when he fatally shot Silva, an 18-year-old Western University student, in the abdomen.

Moser finished her closing address to the jury after meticulously reviewing the expansive Crown case that began on Oct. 15 and weaving an evidentiary thread connecting the testimonies of both civilians and experts pointing to Guerra Guerra’s guilt.

Guerra Guerra, a 23-year-old aspiring rap artist who testified he carried around a loaded handgun as a prop for promotional music videos, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder of Silva and not guilty to assault with a weapon of Silva’s best friend, Logan Marshall, now 22, at a mid-summer bush party in southwest London on July 31, 2021.

The jury has already heard that Schaap, 23, who struck Marshall in the head with the blunt end of machete causing a concussion, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault with a weapon in another court proceeding.

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Emily Altmann, the 22-year-old woman who summoned Guerra Guerra and Schaap to the bush party following an argument over a spilled drink and unwanted videos, claiming she was going to be “jumped” by 10 young men, was a co-defendant at Guerra Guerra’s trial until she was excused last month. Moore instructed the jury not to speculate why.

The trial has entered the home stretch. Superior Court Justice Patricia Moore began her instructions to the jury after Moser’s address, the final step before deliberations. The jury has not been sequestered and will return on Thursday to hear more of the judge’s charge.

Guerra Guerra has claimed self-defence. He testified he was attacked and tussled with one man who put him to the ground. He said he was on his back when the man was about to hit him with a machete. He said he pulled out his gun, pointed it toward his attacker, closed his eyes and shot.

Moser characterized that account as absurd and reviewed the evidence that pointed to Guerra Guerra’s enthusiasm for handguns and his desire to use his.

She also reminded the jury that there was evidence Guerra Guerra went to elaborate steps to cover his tracks and threatened witnesses into silence.

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“We know what happened that night,” Moser said. Guerra Guerra and Schaap went hunting for the alleged harassers and “they were fully prepared to attack them.”

She reminded the jury that Schaap was overheard saying “where are they?” as soon as he, Guerra Guerra and two women drove up to the party. She added that surveillance video showed Guerra Guerra leading the way to the path into the party with little discussion.

“His mind had been well made up,” Moser said.

“The fact was Mr. Guerra Guerra had a gun on him was because he wanted to have a gun on him. It was loaded for the obvious reason. He thought he might have to use it, even well before Emily Altmann called him that night.”

Marshall, Silva and others were hiding in fear after they were warned that armed, masked men were coming for them. There was evidence Altmann tried to Instagram call Isabella Restrepo, the woman with whom she argued over the spilled drink, and Marshall, Restrepo’s then-boyfriend, when they couldn’t be found.

Guerra Guerra, Schaap, Altmann and their group began to leave the party after 20 minutes because they could not find their targets. “But then when they decided to leave, halfway down the path something was heard in the bushes,” Moser said.

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A light was shone into the bushes. One of the men said “who’s there?” Altmann asked,” is that him?” and her friend Jessica Falardeau said something she testified she deeply regrets – “that’s him” – and pointed to Marshall.

Moser said Schaap attacked Marshall and when Silva emerged from the bushes, he was attacked by Guerra Guerra. No one, not even Guerra Guerra, said Silva had a weapon and Moser argued the machete found at the crime scene bearing a tiny bit of Silva’s DNA belonged to Schaap.

After only 10 or 15 seconds, the shot rang out. “It was so fast,” Moser said, and Guerra Guerra was straddling Silva when he shot him.

“Mr. Guerra Guerra needs you to believe that Josue Silva had a moment of not being on the ground, of being able to retrieve his machete and holding it in his hand. He says this because he needs you to believe that he acted out in defence of his own life,” Moser said.

“But the only lives that were at risk that night were Logan Marshall’s and Josue Silva’s. . . . Not at all Mr. Guerra Guerra.”

She told the jury Moore, the judge, will explain the two legal routes to a second-degree murder conviction: that either Guerra Guerra meant to kill Silva; or meant to cause bodily harm that he knew was likely to kill and was reckless as to whether Silva died or not.

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“It’s the Crown’s position that Mr. Guerra Guerra certainly knew that shooting a young man three inches above his belly button would either kill him or he was reckless that he knew it would likely kill him,” Moser said.

She said the defence assertion that Silva’s friends and other people at the party delayed in calling 911 for almost eight minutes to cover their tracks while Silva was dying “was just wrong.”

No one expected a stranger armed with a gun and a friend would be shot, Moser said. “What a horrible, chaotic situation that these young people had to go through. To suggest it was (something) other than that is absolutely incorrect.”

Justice Moore’s charge to the jury continues on Thursday.

jsims@postmedia.com

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