BY KEITH LACEY
A stabbing victim vehemently denied two women attacked him only after he beat up their gay friend and then turned violent against both women during an ugly incident last July.
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Â?I totally disagree,Â? said Joey Jeanveau, the key Crown witness in the aggravated assault jury trial now underway at the Sudbury courthouse.
Deborah Towegishig, 33, also known as Deborah Leduc, and Colleen Finlayson, 44, also known as Caline Chapais, have both pleaded not guilty.
Towegishig has also pleaded not guilty to assault with a weapon and possessing a dangerous weapon.
Jeanveau, a Calgary oil rigger who used to make Sudbury home, testified he and several friends spent a night drinking at a Notre Dame Avenue bar and things went awry when he went to a nearby convenience store.
Jeanveau said he was entering the store when a man started talking to him and brandished a knife.
Believing he was about to be robbed or a victim of violence, Jeanveau said he immediately grabbed the man and laid a serious beating on him outside the store.
He knocked the man down and tried to kick at him, but missed causing the sandal on one foot to fall off, he said.
At this point, the man got up and ran away and Jeanveau tried to chase after him because he admitted he wanted to inflict further violence and subdue him for police.
However, the man was too far away and he decided to give up the chase near St. Jean de Brebeuf Church on Notre Dame Ave., he said.
Soon after giving up his chase, he felt a deep pain in his back and believed heÂ?d been Â?stabbed by a beer bottle,Â? said Jeanveau.
He tried to punch two women, but realized heÂ?d been stabbed and crawled to the Food Basics store across the street and an ambulance was called and he was transported to hospital, he said.
The stab wound caused immense pain and he still suffers regular pain, he said.
Â?IÂ?m screwed,Â? he said. Â?IÂ?m in pain right now.Â?
The woman who stabbed him was Towegishig, the Â?heavy set womanÂ? he described to police, he said.
After the incident, Towegishig approached him in a vehicle and told him Â?you deserve what you got. I hope you die,Â? said Jeanveau.
Under intense cross-examination by TowegishigÂ?s lawyer Andrew Buttazzoni, Jeanveau insisted the events that night happened only after he defended himself from being attacked.
When Buttazzoni suggested Jeanveau told police the man he saw with the knife inside the store was Â?a fagÂ?, Jeanveau admitted he said that.
When Buttazzoni suggested it was Jeanveau who started the fight and could have ended the violence sooner, again Jeanveau didnÂ?t deny it.
Jeanveau insisted he was acting only in self-defence and wanted to knock the man unconscious so he could keep him under control until police arrived.
When Buttazzoni suggested Jeanveau was stabbed only after he punched Towegishig in the face and turned to punch Finlayson after meeting them in the church parking lot, Jeanveau disagreed.
When Buttazzoni suggested the only reason there was any initial violence was because Jeanveau is homophobic and wanted to beat up a gay man, he denied it.
Jeanveau responded his mother is a lesbian and he Â?was raised by lesbians and been around gays my whole lifeÂ?I have nothing against gays.Â?
The trial, being held before a six-woman, six-man jury, is expected to last until at least Friday.
Both Towegishig and Finlayson are expected to testify in their own defense.
