Scarborough woman testifies in murder of mother and grandmother

An ongoing trial of a 2008 fatal Thanksgiving stabbing in Scarborough near Meadowvale Road and Sheppard Avenue East, continues after Nathaniel O’Brien, 34, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Saramma Varughese, 75 and Susan John, 43, along with attempted murder of John’s daughter, now 23-year-old, Sarah John.

Some dramatic moments arose in court Thursday as Sarah John, the only survivor of the bloody attack incident testified.

She cried silently for a moment in the witness box then began to recount her version of what happened.

She told the court she woke up to screams and ran to her grandmother’s bedroom.

“I stopped at the door and saw my grandmother being attacked by a man… she was being stabbed,” she testified.

She said the attacker saw her dial 9-1-1 and pushed her, that’s when her mother intervened.

“He began stabbing her. I tried to stop him but couldn’t,” she said.

John testified she was able to pull the mask off O’Brien’s face just before he chased her and choked her into unconsciousness in an alleyway between two houses.

Police said O’Brien was arrested inside John’s home, wearing blood-soaked boxer shorts.

In court Friday, jury heard the DNA on O’Brien’s bloody clothes matched his and the two victims.

The Crown will continue to call witnesses over the next few days before O’Brien’s lawyers begin to lay out its defense.

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By: Christina Cheng
Posted: Nov 25 2011 8:39 pm
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Filed under: News Briefs