Article contentShe then saw Howe reach for a large knife on a dresser and begin stabbing Adam in the chest.Article contentFleming ran toward the living room and told Chris Dempsey to call 911. Chris went into the bedroom and saw Howe standing over Adam.Article content“Adam was on the floor, and Alex was repeatedly stabbing at him,” the agreed facts say. “Chris yelled at Alex, and Alex stopped stabbing Adam.”Article contentAdam stood up and was slipping in his own blood. He and Chris then ran out of the apartment. While they were running, Adam was telling Chris that he was dying.Article contentThe pair closed the apartment door behind them and fled down the stairs. After Adam collapsed at the bottom of the steps, Chris tried to administer first aid to a stab wound on his cousin’s neck.Article contentFleming attempted to flee the apartment after the Dempseys left, but she was unable to open the door because the knob was covered in blood and slippery.Article contentArticle contentChris Dempsey ran to a neighbour’s apartment, banged on the door and asked her to call 911.Article content“Howe continued to attack the victim at the bottom of the stairs,” the statement says. “It is unclear whether the knife was used during this portion of the assault.”Article contentHowe ran to the other apartment and told the woman that the party-goers had tried to rob him. Howe then got into a fight with a man in the woman’s apartment.Article contentRecords indicate 911 dispatch received three calls about the incident, beginning at 2:20 a.m.Article contentPolice reached the house at 2:23 a.m. Some officers went inside, broke up the altercation in the woman’s apartment and arrested Howe. Others found Adam Dempsey outside on the ground, with blood pooling under his upper torso.Article contentOfficers performed first aid until paramedics arrived. Dempsey was pronounced deceased at the Halifax Infirmary at 3:05 a.m.Article contentArticle contentAn autopsy determined Dempsey died from multiple stab wounds to his head, back, torso and extremities. The most pathologically significant injury was a stab wound to the neck that transected an artery and a vein. Dempsey’s left lung, kidney, spleen and liver were also damaged in the stabbing.Article contentIn a victim impact statement, Alicia Dempsey said her brother’s life may have been cut short, “but one thing nobody can ever take from him is his heart.Article content“No matter what mistakes he made in his short life, he did not deserve to have his life taken in such a horrific way. I will probably forever have to sit with that thought that he left the world the way he did. It eats me up inside, the fear he felt in those last moments.”Article contentShe said she deals with a deep, unbearable pain “every single day.”Article content“Adam was such a forgiving soul,” Alicia wrote. “We had such a strong bond. I used to be a forgiving soul, too, but since my brother was taken in such an evil, scary way, I now look at this world differently.
Halifax killer must serve 10 years of life sentence before he can apply for parole
