An assistant district attorney may have surprised jurors Tuesday at the start of Joshua Wagner's trial. The 37-year-old man is accused of stabbing his neighbor nine times, including one deep jab to his victim's heart, in south Anchorage in 2011.
"I'm going to fucking kill you," were the first words spoken by state prosecutor Aaron Peterson. He paused briefly before saying, "I'm going to fucking kill George."
Norman "George" Dennis died after being stabbed multiple times, allegedly during a fight in his garage with Wagner.
Peterson argued the case is "done" once the state presents all its evidence. Multiple witnesses, all present the night of the stabbing, and the defendant's lies to responding Anchorage officers will guide the jury to a guilty verdict for first-degree murder, he said.
Commotion and a wailing noise
The night of Oct. 28, 2011 began well enough. The three witnesses staying at Dennis' house, two friends and his girlfriend of several years, went out while Dennis and his alleged killer grabbed a bite to eat together, Peterson said.
The attorney did not say whether the men were friends. He said Wagner lived in a trailer in a driveway next to Dennis' home along Nugget Lane, near DeArmoun Road and Lake Otis Parkway. In the months leading up to the stabbing, Wagner started storing belongings in Dennis' garage. Dennis told his neighbor he wanted the stuff out before he left to work in Dutch Harbor.
Instead, Peterson said, Wagner "doubled down." He put a piano and an organ in the garage, as well as other items. The prosecutor argued that the accumulation of stuff in Dennis' garage was part of what prompted the Friday night fight. Both groups returned to Nugget Lane around 7 p.m., and shortly after returning Wagner allegedly brought his pit bull-mix into his self-proclaimed storage space.
The victim's girlfriend owned a little Chihuahua. She didn't want what the prosecutor described as a big, mean dog threatening her pet. So Dennis went out to the garage "probably to tell the defendant to get the dog and his stuff out of there," Peterson said. But shortly after he went out, one of the friends heard a commotion and what sounded like a wailing sound coming from the garage, he said.
Victim allegedly stabbed nine times
Yet another friend went to investigate and found the neighbors fighting in a corner, near Wagner's piano. At first, it appeared Dennis was "winning," but when the two men separated the friend saw "George covered in blood and the defendant holding a knife," Peterson said.
The victim fled the garage and re-entered his home, locking the door behind him. Wagner allegedly followed with a fire extinguisher, busted a window near the front door and sprayed his opponent in the face. Dennis retreated further into the house, Peterson said, and lay down on his laundry room floor. In the meantime, Wagner allegedly continued to run around the house yelling profanities and death threats.
Dennis was stabbed nine times. The fatal stab plunged four inches into his heart, Peterson said. He was also stabbed three times in the back, he said.
"(Dennis' girlfriend) laid down next to him and waited for an ambulance as he was fighting for his life," Peterson said. "She laid there and watched as the life drained out of him" while Wagner ran around the house shouting "I'm going to fucking kill George. And he did."
When police arrived, Wagner allegedly told them he got in a fight with Dennis on his property. He told the police he had a single Mike's Hard Lemonade, which a recording will prove otherwise, Peterson said. He said Dennis stabbed him in the ankle. He said he didn't know how the windows broke.
When the police arrived, "the lying started immediately," Peterson said.
Going to town
Defense attorney Joseph Van De Mark called the state's version of events "an interesting story.
"And if it was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then maybe Mr. Wagner is guilty."
Van De Mark said his client was clearly upset; his adrenalin was pumping because he'd just been assaulted.
The state spent little time talking about the incident and a lot of time going over what happened before and after the alleged stabbing, he said. When all witnesses give their testimony, they'll say a lot but not much about what went down in the garage.
One of the friends saw Dennis beating Wagner, who was balled up in a corner, the defense attorney said. "George was going to town on Josh ... (Wagner) didn't know what was about to happen and he slashed out with a knife." Dennis retreated and Wagner followed but dropped the knife, Van De Mark said.
"The state wants you to assume that because he lied he must be guilty. That's their primary evidence," he said.
Contact Jerzy Shedlock at jerzy(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @jerzyms.