The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

stouffville suntribune thursday feb 5 2004 3 stqujbfville says byhannelorevolpe which issues did you want to see addressed in the throne speech asked at no frills in stouffville 3 pm monday rosina kotnjek i would like to see health care addressed for me defence is not a priority because we are a peacekeeping nation herb lee i would like to see the armed forces better taken care of we cant depend on the us to fight our battles for us june craven m wj him jjkipliji z mm the provinces arent getting enough money from the federal government for things such as health care and education john sabourin there should be more funding for the environment also the northern part of canada needs more doctors and services staff photosjoerd witteveen love on blades gerry and betty acton who have been married for 57 years promote a valentine skate to be hosted by the stouffville adult skating club tuesday from 855 to 945 pm at the stouffville arena admission is 4 per person refreshments will be served call 9056401149 accused stabbed gray out of fear by stephen shaw metroland staff did gary cleyndert act out of anger or pure animal fear when he stabbed jesse gray of musselmans lake eight times during a confrontation two years ago the fate of the 21yearold port perry man rests in the hands of a 12member jury which is expected to begin wrestling with the question today after being given legal instructions by superior court justice robert clark mr cleyndert who has pleaded not guilty to second- degree murder was involved in a death fight with an enraged mr gray who confronted him during a postprom uxbridge bush party in the early hours of june 8 2002 defence lawyer dirk derstine said in his closing address to the jury monday mr gray clocked mr cleyndert in the head and con tinued punching him in a fight the defendant wanted no part of the lawyer argued the port perry man testified he was trying to fend off the 244pound mr gray when he got tangled in his coat slipped on a beer bottle and fearing he was falling down pulled a but terfly knife out of his back pock et while leaning backwards at a 45degree angle he reenacted the scene for the jury in court thats when he says pure animal fear takes over he believes hes about to get stomped and mutilated he stabbed jesse over and over again until jesse stopped attacking he was like a trapped animal and was just trying to get away his domi nant purppseis just to stop mr gray mr derstine said he wasnt aiming to hurt him he was intending to save himself the wounds are inflicted during the course of a violent struggle by a person who im going to suggest is extremely frightened he said mr gray 24 whose father and uncle are prominent mem bers of the hells angels died after being stabbed eight times including once in the heart court has heard defence differs the defence said mr cleyndert flailed the knife blindly at mr gray in despera tion and should be acquitted on the basis he acted in self- defence the crown argued it was anger and not fear that fuelled mr cleyndert he later created a poorme defence in hopes of dodging a murder conviction prosecutor john scott said in his closing address to the jury in my submission hes not afraid of anything except responsibility this man is try ing his best to avoid responsi bility for the horrible crime that has been committed he said he is the author of this tragedy and he should be held accountable this gentleman should be convicted of the mur der of jesse gray a murder that was unnecessary and a murder for which he is responsible court was told a rude com ment mr cleyndert allegedly made to mr grays girlfriend mellissa bell led to the fatal clash in the zephyr road field during an annual bash for stu dents of uxbridge secondary school the party was attended by 500 dancing and drinking revellers during the dispute with ms bell and her girlfriends one of them splashed a drink on mr cleyndert who responded by spitting court heard ms bell went and told mr gray who became mad as hell and confronted mr cleyndert mr derstine said the defendant knew of mr grays reputation of a tough guy from a tough family and tried to apologize to mr gray and avoid a fight he said jurors can acquit mr cleyndert on the basis of self- defence if they accept he rea sonably believed he was at risk of grievous injury or death briefly carnival at lake for valentines day the musselmans lake have a heart love the lake winter car nival is making a comeback after a fiveyear absence the event will be held feb 14 from 1 to 4 pm near the cedar beach pavilion on ninth line residents can skate on a heart- shaped skating rink see ice and water rescue demonstrations by whitchurchstouffville firefighters and enjoy music nature walks horsedrawn wagon rides and marshmallow and hot dog roasts town councillor phil bannon is organizing the event weather postpones historical society decision the whitchurchstouffville historical society still exists for now the annual meeting scheduled for jan 27 had to be postponed due to a snowstorm the societys fate was to be decided that evening whether to continue if enough people came forward to form a full board of direc tors or dissolve the society the meeting has been resched uled for feb 26 at 730 pm at the silver jubilee club on main street nominations will be taken for all positions and everyone is welcome to attend the historical society is a separate entity from the whitchurch- stouftville heritage board committee and the whitchurchstouffville museum its volunteers want to keep the history of stouffville alive through informative and educational meet ings and walking tours society mem ber tom winters said quoteworthy i feel like a new person since i got the transplant dan pfaff on the second anniversary of his doublelung transplant see story on page 1 contacting us have a news tip please phone us at 9056402612 email us at jmasongpyrng com visit us at 34 civic ave stouffville