Lukas Strasser-Hird murder trial jury begins deliberations

After six weeks of evidence, the fate of four young men accused of killing LukasStrasser-Hirdis now in the hands of jurors.

JochPouk,AssmarShlah, JordanLiaoand FranzCabreraare each charged with second-degree murder.

A fifth man, NathanGervais, was charged with first-degree murder,butdisappeared weeks before the trialbegan whileon bail and remains at large.

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On Monday, Justice Glen Poelman spent three hours charging the jury; explaining how to examine the evidence and the potential verdicts they can reach.

Now that the jury is sequestered until a verdict is reached, media outlets were granted access to a number of videos that were played by the Crown earlier in the trial.

They were taken at the Vinyl Nightclub and show the movements of the accused and victim the night he was killed.

Strasser-Hirdis marked in the videos by a white arrow while the accused are pointed out by a yellow arrow.

The videos depict the initial confrontation that took place in front of the nightclub involvingStrasser-Hirdand a number of others.

Bouncers then escort the victim through the club and into the back alley where he is attacked by a swarm of people, kicked in the head and stabbed to death.

What jurors did not hear was that after the Crown finished presenting its case, lawyers for each of the accused made directed verdict applications on June 2.

Pouk's lawyer,David Chow and Cabrera's lawyer,Gavin Wolch both asked Poelman to instruct jurors to acquit their clients of second-degree murder and returnverdicts of manslaughter instead.

Ryan Claxton who representsLiaoand Balfour Der who acts forShlah,both proposed outright acquittals.

Poelman dismissed the applications on June 6.

Strasser-Hird's DNA was found onCabrera's jacket,Shlah's shoes andone of Pouk's shoes.

Jurors typically deliberate until about 9 p.m.

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