A man who was attacked with a hammer and whose eyes were gouged in a vicious beating in North Vancouver has vowed to get revenge on those he says were responsible for the attack.
"I've lost an awful lot over this thing. It wasn't justifiable. I've lost a couple of years of my life," he said.
"They took my eye. I still remember (one of the attackers) clearly saying 'I'm going to pop it like a grape.'"
Ronald Perry, 68, made the comments outside North Vancouver provincial court after Judge Steven Merrick found Paul Joseph Defaveri, 50, of North Vancouver guilty of aggravated assault in the case. Merrick found a second man, Robin Landrew Pryce, 42, not guilty, saying he there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt Pryce was involved in the attack.
Following the verdict, Perry said he wasn't surprised by the result in the case, which was largely circumstantial. But he's not going forget about what happened, he said. "I'm living on borrowed time right now," he said. "I really don't care; I've got nothing to lose."
During the trial this summer, Perry described in horrific detail how two men beat him inside a North Vancouver bungalow on Sept. 2, 2009. Perry had gone to the house to try to make a deal with the boss of a criminal gang who was angry with him for Perry's earlier involvement in a grow-rip of a marijuana operation in Lions Bay.
Perry was hit from behind with a hammer, had his eyes gouged with someone's fingers and was bound with zap straps before being stuffed in a vehicle and driven to Vancouver, where he was found by a passerby. He lost one eye and has limited vision in the other.
Both Perry and Defaveri were living in the house in the 1600-block of Phillip Avenue when the attack took place. Perry never saw who hit him from behind, although he said Defaveri was present when the attack began. Pryce's DNA was later found on a zap strap and piece of electrical tape used to bind Perry while Defaveri's fingerprint was found in Perry's blood inside the house.
In reaching his verdict, Merrick said he was prepared to accept some - but not all - of Perry's evidence in the case, noting that Perry is "an unsavoury witness" with a criminal record who has acknowledged lying under oath.
Merrick said while Pryce lived in the house and his DNA was found on a zap strap, there is no evidence Pryce was home when the attack happened.
But Merrick said Defaveri's fingerprint in Perry's blood was compelling evidence of his involvement in the violence.
"The only rational conclusion is that Mr. Defaveri's bloody fingerprint was on the door because he participated in the assault of Mr. Perry," he said.
Following the verdict, Crown prosecutors asked that Defaveri be immediately taken into custody. But Merrick denied the request, allowing Defaveri to remain free on bail pending his sentencing.
Defaveri's lawyer, Alex Wolf, said his client is currently the sole caregiver to his 83 year-old father in North Vancouver and needs time to get his affairs in order. Merrick adjourned the sentencing until later this fall.
Outside the court, Perry said even if Defaveri goes to jail, he doesn't expect it to be for long.
"He'll be back on the street in time for me to have a talk with him," he said. He added he was stupid to walk into the attack. "I got old, and I got stupid," he said.
