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Teen beaten to death, jury hears
Matthew Martins, 16, cornered near escalator bottom at SkyTrain Station
Glenda Luymes, The Province
Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007
SURREY - Sixteen-year-old Matthew Martins' life ended violently when he was cornered and beaten at the bottom of an escalator in a Surrey SkyTrain station, a jury in the trial of Robert Forslund and Katherine Quinn heard yesterday.
Forslund threw the small teen into a Plexiglas wall beside the stopped escalator before stomping on his head 13 times and slashing his throat with a broken beer bottle, Crown counsel Wendy Dawson told the first day of the couple's trial for second-degree murder.
Dawson said Martins had encountered the couple earlier that night, when Quinn jumped on his back to steal the cross he wore around his neck. Hours later, police found the cross in Forslund's possession.
As Dawson made her opening remarks to the jury, members of the Martins family slowly left B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, some in tears.
Jeane Martins, Matthew's aunt, said outside court it was difficult but important for the family to attend.
"Matthew's part of us," she said. "We have to be here. He's family -- you don't walk away from family . . . You just get up, and you do it."
But she said she doesn't know if she'll be able to remain in court.
"I don't want my last memories of Matthew to be even more nightmarish than they already have been."
Matthew's father, David Toner, said the family is relieved that the five-week trial is finally beginning after procedural delays.
"We're obviously wanting to get some sort of closure . . . but it's not something we look forward to," he said. "There's going to be a lot of emotion involved in the trial . . . There's going to be things we don't want to hear and don't want to know."
In court, Quinn, who is free on bail, sat with her parents, leaning her head on her mother's shoulder, before being ushered to the prisoner's box.
The slender 24-year-old was dressed in black. Forslund, 28, a large man with spiked hair, wore a pink shirt and nodded at Quinn as he entered court.
Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Forslund's lawyer, Karen Bastow, said Forslund would plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, but the prosecution refused to accept the plea.
"It means they have a strong enough case to go for second-degree murder," Toner said outside court. "While I'm in a sense glad [Forslund] is trying to plead guilty to manslaughter because it shows he's acknowledging his guilt . . . I still want the murder charge to go forward."
Dawson told the jury that on July 2, 2005, Forslund and Quinn were drinking with friends when they encountered Matthew near Surrey central SkyTrain station.
Dawson said Quinn jumped Matthew and received a superficial stab wound under her arm while wrestling with him. Matthew fled.
Forslund and Quinn caught up with him at the SkyTrain station.
Forslund beat Matthew, encouraged by Quinn, the prosecutor said.
She said a witness will testify that Quinn told Forslund to kill the teen and gave him a beer bottle.
For Quinn to be found guilty of second-degree murder, the Crown must prove she either assisted or encouraged the murderer.
The trial continues today.
gluymes@png.canwest.com
