{UAH} Rwandan man testifies he stabbed Ottawa crack addict in self defence
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Rwandan man testifies he stabbed Ottawa crack addict in self defence
Christian Nkusi, 25, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault in the August 2012 stabbing of Handule Farah.
Photograph by: handout photo , Ottawa Police Service
OTTAWA — Christian Nkusi was on the lam and desperate for a place to sleep when he spent his dwindling university funds on crack and booze to trade for shelter at a Westboro apartment, he testified at his attempted murder trial.
"It was gesture coming from the heart. Very generous," he said.
He thought it would be an "investment" but the relationship with his new host Handule Farah turned sour when he woke from a nap on the morning of Aug. 21, 2012 and noticed his Rwandan passport was missing from his backpack.
"I had a feeling that he took it," he said. "I said, 'I'm getting back-stabbed by a Somalian again."
That's when his "out of it" host — who had been up all night smoking crack, drinking beer and downing a bottle of tequila — punched him in the face, he said.
"He was on top of me, choking me, saying he was going to kill me," Nkusi testified.
Farah had been holding a screwdriver, but at some point in the struggle, Nkusi noticed it on the carpet next to him and grabbed it, he said.
"I swung it so that he would get off of me," he said. "It wasn't my intention to hurt him."
The screwdriver cut Farah's carotid artery and he was in a coma for three days after a surgery to repair the damage. Farah also had multiple broken bones in his face, and cuts on his eyelid, below his ear and on his back.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for Nkusi's arrest, but he wasn't captured until October.
The 25-year-old has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Farah, 37, admitted he was drunk and high, but denied he attacked Nkusi inside his apartment at 31 Van Lang Pte.
Nkusi launched a "sudden attack" over his missing passport, Farah testified, and he was unable to defend himself.
Farah said he saw the passport on the floor near the dining room table but did not tell Nkusi because he only had $20 to pay for $80 worth of crack and hoped to use it as collateral. He denies there was a deal to trade drugs for shelter.
He testified that Nkusi was only at his apartment for about an hour, but video footage from the lobby of the apartment building shows Nkusi arriving at 6:17 a.m. and leaving at 12:31 p.m.
Farah has a criminal record, including a 1995 assault on an Ottawa bus driver he believed was racist against black people, but told the court he was "a changed man." He also said that he no longer uses drugs.
Nkusi also has a criminal record, including weapon, drug and robbery convictions. At the time of the stabbing, he was on the run for breaching conditions of his release while out on bail on charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit an offence. Nkusi testified he did not want to return to jail because he was being pressured by friends on the inside to smuggle in drugs.
The University of Ottawa international development student said he had survived on the run for nearly two months in the summer of 2012 thanks to the generosity of friends and part of the remaining $400 from his Ontario Student Assistance Program. Nkusi said he considered it an "investment" to bring Farah a bottle of tequila and $80 worth of crack he bought near the Prestige Inn Hotel on Montreal Road in exchange for a place to stay for a few nights.
Farah said, "I don't remember" the bottle of tequila, but said he drank four cans of Budweiser beer before the stabbing. He said Nkusi took his $20 but did not give him any crack.
Both Nkusi and Farah testified that they had only met once before through a mutual friend prior to the stabbing, but disagreed on the day and place.
Nkusi said that on their second meeting, Farah confided that he was a founding member of the Ledbury Banff Crips gang.
Nkusi's testimony continues Thursday.
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