Murder trial underway in Hamilton in the death of Noah Keizer

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The second degree murder trial of a man accused of killing a two year old toddler is underway in Hamilton. Noah Keizer died of blunt force trauma to the head, while in the care of 27 year old Greg Dalley – a friend of the boy’s mother.

Early in the trial there was a suggestion that friends and relatives were uncomfortable with the man watching over Noah on the night of his death. Two year old Noah was crying and whimpering as he left the company of his grandmother for the last time. The accused, Greg Dalley had come to collect Noah from the home of family friend Patty Smith, to take him home to his mother Nicole Agnew, on the evening of July 13th, 2012. On the witness stand Ms. Smith told the court, that she knew Noah was upset, and believed it was because he was afraid of Dalley. She told Noah’s grandmother Iris “he’s terrified of that guy.”

Defence attorneys for the accused suggested that Noah was upset because he was having fun, and didn’t want to leave his grandmother. “He’s left my home lots of times and never acted like that. He was different when he left that day” testified Ms. Smith.

Later in the day the court heard from Noah’s mother Nicole Agnew. She had been working at the Undermount Tavern on the night that Noah died. She first heard that her son had been hurt, in a text message from a friend – who said that Noah had been hurt, and was bleeding. She called and spoke to Dalley, who at first told her that everything was fine. Less than 90 minutes later, Noah was dead. Dalley claimed that Noah had hurt himself, and must have had internal bleeding. He texted Agnew, saying: “he clearly hurt himself and i should have called an ambulance. now i have to live with that.” A shocked Nicole Agnew did not see her son until she identified his body. She told the court “he wasn’t breathing, he was gone. There was just so much blood I couldn’t tell anything.”

Defence Lawyer Greg Leslie began his cross examination of Nicole Agnew this afternoon, establishing that Agnew and accused Greg Dalley had known each other for some time and had been friends on and off. He also established that Dalley frequently watched Noah, and there had been no obvious friction or problems between himself and Nicole Agnew, prior to Noah’s death. In further testimony, Mr. Leslie is also expected to establish that Nicole was drinking on the night of Noah’s death and did not return home immediately after finishing her shift at work that night, instead leaving her son in Dalley’s care.