A murderer has been found guilty of murder after stabbing his victim in the chest – after hiding thoughts of revenge for seven years. Kane Stonehouse fatally wounds Gary Warner at Falcon Lodge in Sutton Coldfield in the early hours of October 31, 2020.
The 31-year-old victim, who was in the place of his friend’s Skoda Yeti driver when he was hit, managed to reach Good Hope Hospital, but later died. Stonehouse, 21, of Stone Avenue, where the attack took place, admitted to stabbing Mr Warner and confessed to manslaughter, but denied the murder.
Following a retrial in Birmingham, he was found guilty by a jury today, Wednesday, June 15. The verdict will be handed down on a date that has not yet been confirmed.
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Stonehouse, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has been charged with killing Mr Warner in retaliation for the victim who allegedly broke his brother’s jaw in 2013. Jurors heard that the brother of the defendant was admitted to hospital where he suffered a lung collapse during surgery. Stonehouse admitted that he had told doctors he had dreams of killing Mr Warner, but insisted he had given up his anger after receiving eye movement desensitization therapy (EMDR).
The allegation is that Stonehouse set an “opportunistic” trap in the early hours of October 31, two years ago, after ordering drugs – only to find his dealer in the passenger seat of the car and Mr. Warner to drive him around. It is alleged that the defendant ordered more drugs an hour and a half later, at which time he armed himself with his “ceremonial” dagger, which bears the emblems of the SS.
Gary Warner
He then waited in an alley for Skoda to return, and when it happened just before 5 a.m., he stabbed Mr. Warner, saying, “This is for my brother, Grandpa,” the court heard. Opening the case, prosecutor James Daws QC said: “He has long angered Gary Warner, whom he accused of injuring his brother seven years earlier.
“During these seven years, he consistently harmed the malice that culminated in the execution of Gary Warner at the Falcon Lodge on October 31, 2020, three minutes before 5 a.m. on that rainy night. He was given the opportunity to stab Gary Warner, and he took it. “
Kane Stonehouse (Image: West Midlands Police)
At the trial after the murder, Stonehouse wrapped the towel in a dagger and hid it in his girlfriend’s bedroom. Later that day, after hearing that Mr. Warner had died, he called police, claiming he had killed a man with a balaclava who had tried to rob him. That was a statement he eventually abandoned.
As he testified, Stonehouse told the court he had “no intention” when he struck the victim deadly. He said that when he saw Mr. Warner, who was obviously “giggling and smiling” at him, it caused his brother to “look back” at the hospital.
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