Drugs, rap, social media loom large in Neville trial
Warning: This story contains offensive language
CBC News
Posted: Nov 12, 2012 6:35 PM NT
Last Updated: Nov 12, 2012 7:39 PM NT
Related
Evidence revealed during the trial of Steven Neville, 22, shows that he and two of his former friends were steeped in the culture of Facebook posting, text messaging, gangsta rap music, and the suburban St. John's drug trade.
Steven Neville is being tried for murdering Doug Flynn, and the attempted murder of Ryan Dwyer. (CBC )Neville, 22, is on trial for the murder of Doug Flynn and the attempted murder of Ryan Dwyer.
In the months before Flynn was fatally stabbed in Paradise on Oct. 9, 2010, his friend Dwyer received and sent 15,000 messages, mostly text messages, on his cellphone.
Text messages could influence trial outcome
Most of Dwyer's texts were not entered as evidence, but those that were could be interpreted as helping both the Crown and the defence in the trial.
Ryan Dwyer, seen outside Supreme Court last week, has been an avid texter. (CBC )For example, Neville's defence team cited a message exchange on Oct. 5, 2010 between Dwyer and his younger brother.
Dwyer's brother texted, "Some s--t goin' down this weekend alright. We're making a master plan ... "
Dwyer texted back, "hahaha i already got the plans."
On the stand, Dwyer said those texts were about him getting back in the drug trade.
On Oct. 8, 2010 - the day before the stabbings - Dwyer texted, "I just seen neville man i f----n' hate him i wanna f----n' kill him."
"Im gettin that bastard tonight man."
Dwyer texted those messages to Doug Flynn, who was stabbed to death the next day.
'Just an expression'
Dwyer admitted he texted about 10 times that he wanted to kill Neville, but he said the words were just an expression, and he just wanted to fight Neville.
The court has also seen evidence of Facebook postings by Dwyer that allegedly angered Neville, including one which read "Kick in the door, wavin the four four all ya heard was granny neville saying don't hit me no more."
Dwyer wrote a Facebook posting based on lyrics by rapper Notorious B.I.G., who was shot to death in March 1997. (Venus Bernardo-Prudhomme/Associated Press)The wording was a reference to Neville's mother, combined with the lyrics of a rap song by Notorious B.I.G., an American rapper who was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 1997.
Dwyer testified that he wasn't really attacking Neville's mother, and that his Facebook posting was just a cheap shot at Neville.
In another text, Dwyer said he would "bend over granny neville."
In response to questions from Neville's lawyer, Peter Ralph, Dwyer said the text didn't mean he planned to rape Neville's mother. Instead, Dwyer said the text was another attempt to insult Neville and find him so some other young men he knew could rob Neville.
Neville, Flynn texting on night of stabbing
Neville, no slouch at texting himself, sent a message to a friend on Oct. 8, 2010 which read, "They are dead, dead, dead, I'm stabbing them until they are squirting blood."
Doug Flynn, the man Neville is accused of killing, posted a Facebook message just hours before he was killed which read, "neville tried to bearmace me, imma blow em off the map A.S.A.P."
The second phrase is a play on a lyric by American rapper T.I. "A n----r try to play me, I'm a blow him off the map A.S.A.P."
Flynn's final text message, sent just before he was fatally stabbed, said, "Is Neville there? If so, I'm coming down to fight him."
Share Tools
Latest Nfld. & Labrador News Headlines
- Controlling hospital infections a continuing concern
- The Newfoundland and Labrador government is refusing to release what it calls a draft report on hospital-acquired infections — a report that one health official said found rates higher here than the national average. more »
- Crew safe after vessel sinks off St. John's
- Gander search and rescue says four crew members from a vessel which capsized about 70 nautical miles northeast of St. John's have been rescued by the crew of another ship. more »
- Crown loses bid to appeal killer's release
- The Crown has been denied a chance to appeal a decision in a disturbing murder case on the west coast of Newfoundland. more »
- Shoal Point retracts claim of drilling approval
- Shoal Point Energy has retracted an earlier claim that it had received approval from the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board to drill a new well on the west coast of Newfoundland. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Harper 'not consulted' about Duffy Senate expense repayment

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that not only did he not know about his chief of staff's "gift" to repay Senator Mike Duffy's expenses before the story broke in the media, he was not consulted and did not sign off on Nigel Wright's decision to write a personal cheque. more »
- Mayor Ford stays silent while his brother defends him
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford continues to stonewall the media over allegations that he was recorded on video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, but his brother Coun. Doug Ford told reporters Wednesday that the story is untrue. more »
- 'You will see him again in heaven,' Sharlene Bosma tells daughter
- Sharlene Bosma told more than 1,000 people at the public memorial service for her slain husband, Tim Bosma, about the love they shared. more »
- Rob Ford fired as Don Bosco Eagles head coach
- The Toronto Catholic District School board announced Wednesday that it was turfing Mayor Rob Ford from his position as head coach of the Don Bosco Eagles senior football team. more »
- Bay Roberts couple win $2M on scratch ticket
- Labrador school a 'toxic' place to work, says report
- Facebook post foreshadows teen's robbery arrest
- Marshall asks Senate committee to review her pay
- A0A not OK for Shea Heights residents
- St. John's to spend $1.5M to develop park
- Crown attorneys' group head leaving post
- Crew safe after vessel sinks off St. John's
- Court date set for nurse involved in privacy breach

