The defence has rested its case in the murder trial of Steven Neville.
The trial, which began nine weeks ago in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John's, wrapped up Thursday after defence lawyers Bob Buckingham and Robert Hoskins called their last witness, Kyle Miller. Miller, who testified via video from B.C., was an acquaintance of Neville as well as of Doug Flynn and Ryan Dwyer.
Neville, now 27, is charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of 19-year-old Flynn and attempted murder for the stabbing of Dwyer during an altercation in a Paradise subdivision in 2010.
This is Neville's second time being tried on the charges. A jury originally convicted him of second-degree murder in 2013, but the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada two years later. The court found there were problems with the trial judge's instructions to the jury, and ordered a new trial.
Miller was called as a witness for the Crown during the original trial; this time around, he was called as a defence witness instead.
Prosecutors Jason House and Jessica Gallant have presented Neville's actions as deliberate and contemplated, pointing out text messages Neville had sent to a friend the day of the stabbings, saying he was going to stab Flynn and Dwyer and they were "dead, dead, dead."
Buckingham has said Flynn and Dwyer had mounted a "terror campaign" against Neville after a falling out over $65, and were on a mission to "search and destroy" him the night of the stabbings.
The lawyers will present their closing statements to the jury Nov. 27.
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St. John's judge tells jury to disregard media reports on Steven Neville's old murder trial as retrial begins
