JAGLAL GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER IN ROOMATE'S KILLING

A man who admitted stabbing his house-mate to death five years ago in Oshawa has been found guilty of manslaughter.

In a verdict delivered midday Thursday, March 16 at the Oshawa courthouse, a jury found Paul Jaglal not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of 31-yearold Jeffrey Johnston, whose body was discovered Dec. 17, 2017, in the basement of their rooming house on Simcoe Street South.

Jurors retired to deliberate on a verdict Wednesday afternoon. The trial began Feb. 21 and included evidence indicating Johnston had been repeatedly stabbed, sustaining multiple wounds to his neck and torso, among other injuries. Court heard that his body was sprinkled with a caustic substance and hidden under a mattress in a cluttered basement crawl space.

Jaglal, 48, testified in his own defence last week, telling jurors he was attacked by Johnston after accusing him of stealing money and threatening to call police. Jaglal said he wrested a large knife from Johnston and struck out blindly as the other man assaulted him.

Jaglal testified he hid Johnston's body and disposed of other evidence, including the knife and bloody clothes, because he feared Johnston's friends would exact revenge.

In a confrontation during cross-examination, prosecutor Mareike Newhouse alleged Jaglal attacked Johnston as he lay sleeping in an act of "cold-blooded murder."