Murder suspect says he was swarmed by fellow remand inmates

Murder suspect Michael Adenyi testified Tuesday he was swarmed by a group of Calgary Remand Centre inmates just days after his arrest in the random killing of a city woman.

And in cross-examination by the lawyer for one of his alleged assailants, Adenyi denied he may have hallucinated the attack in which he suffered a cut mouth and a bump on his head.

Defence lawyer Chad Haggerty suggested Adenyi’s purported schizophrenia made it difficult for him to differentiate between reality and imagination at the time of the alleged March 22, 2022, assault.

“You reported to (your lawyers) you were having auditory hallucinations?” Haggerty asked the accused killer.

“Yes,” Adenyi agreed.

“You’re not able to tell when things are real, or imaginary,” the lawyer said.

“I can tell when things are real,” Adenyi said.

Three men charged with assault on Adenyi

Haggerty’s client, convicted murderer Michael Elendu, along with Keith Beaverbones and Amandeep Saggu, are charged with assault in connection with an incident at the northwest Calgary jail.

Adenyi told Crown prosecutor Rebecca Ross he was returning a board game to the cafeteria area of Unit 10 at the remand centre when he was punched by Elendu.

He struck back, but was then tackled by another inmate and repeatedly punched before guards intervened.

Adenyi is charged with first-degree murder in what police say was the random killing of Vanessa Ladouceur, who was attacked around 6:40 a.m. on March 18, in the 100 block of 10 Ave. S.E. Ladouceur, 30, who police say was stabbed, was found unconscious. She died a short time later from her injuries.