A Mount Pearl man believed to have brutally beaten another man to death last week hung his head as he was led past reporters en route to court Tuesday.
Ken Edward Green, 34, appeared before a St. John’s provincial court judge, who read the charge aloud — second-degree murder.
Green was arrested Monday night at around 11:25 p.m. without incident in connection with the death of 47-year-old Joey Whalen, who was reportedly assaulted at a home on Tessier Place in downtown St. John’s last week and died Sunday in hospital.
Reports victim died of injuries
While police wouldn’t confirm the nature of the assault — which they responded to on the morning of March 13 — there are reports that Whalen died from severe injuries he suffered in the attack.
When Green first appeared in Courtroom No. 7 Tuesday morning, his lawyer Randy Piercey and Crown prosecutor Lynn Moore agreed to have him sent for a lunch-hour psychiatric assessment at the Waterford Hospital.
Upon returning to court in the afternoon, Judge James Walsh said psychiatrist Dr. John Angel reported he was unable to get a proper assessment and requested a weeklong evaluation.
Green was remanded into custody at the Waterford Hospital and will be back in court March 26.
As Green was being led back to the holding cells, his father was waiting behind the security barriers to see him, along with a woman, who said to Green, “I’ll always be here for you.”
The incident was said to have happened March 13 at around 10:30 a.m.
Officers from the RNC patrol services, criminal investigation and forensic identification divisions responded to a report of a disturbance at a house on Tessier Place.
Whalen was rushed to the hospital.
Green was arrested Monday by the RNC tactics and rescue unit, street patrol services and criminal investigation division.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Const. Talia Murphy told reporters there was a weapon involved, but wouldn’t reveal what it was.
“(The weapon) will be part of the evidence,” she said.
She said officers have responded to a number of calls in the area where the assault took place, but not to the house where the incident took place.
Police don’t believe it was a random act of violence.
“These two individuals were known to each other,” Murphy said.
She doesn’t believe there’s a public safety concern, but said the RNC will be meeting with concerned citizens of the area.
Investigators with the major crime unit of the RNC criminal investigation division would like to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the RNC at 729-8000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Information can also be provided anonymously on the NL Crime Stoppers website at www.nlcrimestoppers.com.
rgillingham@thetelegram.com
Twitter: @TelyCourt
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I can see you have empathy for all sides involved here Ginger. I've observed where it comes to upbringing, you'll almost always find family influences are instilled in everyone whether benevolent or evil. When an individual is beating the life out of another without legal cause (self defence) what could possibly going through the mind while committing this act? I , for example, have deep routed memories of my grandfather nursing an injured squirrel back to good health and my sweet mother berating me for killing a common toad with a stick when I was eight years old. These are the memories that prevent me from bringing harm to any living creature as it is for most of civilized society. Hunting and survival are the only acceptable exceptions. Somewhere in Ken Edward Green's past is a family member who taught him to use violence as a tool to achieve your goals. Perhaps it was an uncle who thought he was teaching young Ken how to be a 'man', we will never know, but it is a certainty he was definitely not envisioning his loving grandmother while he was beating another human to death. Upbringing is more important than one might imagine.