I tried to rescue victims: Accused killer

By Sam Pazzano

 

Nathaniel O’Brien testified Tuesday he was trying to save his two next-door neighbours from mysterious knife-wielding intruders on Thanksgiving Day 2008.
O’Brien insisted he never fatally stabbed Susan John, 43, or her mom, Saramma Varughese, 75 — or attempted to kill John’s daughter, Sarah, 23.
The Crown has alleged that O’Brien, 34, broke into his neighbour’s Rotary Dr. home and killed Varughese and John with a knife. He also allegedly chased Sarah John to a nearby alley and choked her into unconsciousness, according to the prosecution.
O’Brien has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
O’Brien, 34, denied Crown attorney Paul Amenta’s sarcastic suggestion that he was a hero for intervening — unarmed and alone — against at least two men who broke into his neighbours’ house and attacked the defenceless women.
“You think you were a hero?” said Amenta.
“No, I definitely do not. People were screaming, ‘Stop,’ and ‘Help,’ so I went inside their house,” said O’Brien.
“Why didn’t you call 911?” asked Amenta.
“There was no time to call,” replied O’Brien.
O’Brien testified he heard blood-curdling screams at his neighbours’ front door. He confronted one intruder on the upper landing, wrestled with him and as they tumbled together down the stairs, O’Brien’s black trousers fell to his ankles, court heard.
He said he removed his pants, left them and his shoes in the living room, and raced upstairs to discover Varughese’s body in the bedroom doorway.
O’Brien told court he found Sarah and Susan John grappling with a knife-wielding assassin inside the bedroom and was pulled into the fray. He grabbed the masked attacker’s forearm and was stabbed in the knee.
Sleeping in his all-black clothing, sweater and pants, O’Brien told the jury he was initially awoken by rodent sounds outside his window in a laneway.
When he peered out his window, court heard, he spied two south Asian men, dressed in black, in the laneway and looking at his neighbour’s home shortly before 7 a.m.
When O’Brien came outside to investigate, he found that the men were gone. He testified he peered into his neighbours’ front door, found it ajar and heard their desperatae screams for help.
The trial continues Wednesday.