more details.....all for a want of a gold chain??
this from the Chronicle Herald (Halifax paper)
"Cory Wright has been charged with the sailor’s murder. The 23-year-old Halifax man was on parole for a near-fatal stabbing in 2002."
Charged with a near fatal stabbing four years ago.....and out on parole?
Yeah, Canada is tough on crime all right!!
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Sailor’s brother: City not to blame
By CHRIS LAMBIE and DAN ARSENAULT Staff Reporters
The family of an American sailor stabbed to death in Halifax last Saturday isn’t holding a grudge against the city.
Petty Officer 1st Class Damon Crooks died outside a nightclub on Argyle Street.
His friends and his brother said he was stabbed and robbed of a gold chain after he stepped in to try to stop some men from assaulting a shipmate and stealing his chain.
Police wouldn’t confirm or deny that version of events Tuesday, as the case is before the courts.
"We as a family are not blaming the city of Halifax for what happened," the sailor’s half-brother, Corwin Gooden, said Tuesday in an interview from West Palm Beach, Fla.
"It would be nice to see you guys if you wanted to come down to the funeral, some of the citizens from your town. Because we understand it’s a random incident and we don’t think badly of the town or anything like that."
The funeral for Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks is slated for 11 a.m. on Nov. 18 at the United Methodist Church in West Palm Beach.
His fiancee is eight months pregnant. Schyla Washington, who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., is planning to name the baby girl Damani Crooks, after the child’s father.
"We have set up a bank fund for the child and we would want people to make some kind of donation towards that fund for the child because this child is growing up now fatherless over something that just shouldn’t have happened," Mr. Gooden said.
Donations can be made to the Bank of America, in care of Ms. Washington. The account number is 898004342633 and the routing number 063100277.
Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks was known to his close friends as Goldie, said Landis Strickland, who served with him for four years on USS Nassau.
"He liked his jewelry gold. I remember when we first went to New York, he got gold teeth in his mouth. He had like 12 gold teeth in his mouth. He had six at the top, six at the bottom. So we always called him Goldie.
""When he smiled, he had a smile that would light up the room. All you could see was his gold teeth."
Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks eventually got rid of the gold teeth-shaped jewelry, known as fronts or grills.
But the 28-year-old still owned and wore two gold chains with diamond-studded Jesus medallions, said Mr. Strickland, who left the navy two years ago.
"We never worried about nobody robbing us," he said in an interview from North Carolina.
"We always said we worked hard for what we earned. So if we wanted to buy a gold chain, we’re going to wear our gold chain."
Mr. Strickland, who has been asked to speak at his friend’s funeral, said Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks could have saved somebody else’s life by stepping in to try to stop the altercation.
"He was just such a good guy, I guess God wanted him up there with Him."
Another former shipmate said Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks "was a real good dude" who always kept his cool during port visits throughout the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Europe.
"Damon was the most quiet guy you would probably ever meet," said Paul Moise, who also served with Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks on USS Nassau.
"Damon never, ever got in trouble."
Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks had been known to break up fights, said Mr. Moise, who left the navy three years ago.
"He didn’t start anything," Mr. Moise said. "If anything, he would be the one to calm things down."
One of the sailor’s final acts appears to be one of selflessness, said Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr.
Because there were so many people at the scene, police are hearing differing versions of the event, but they believe he tried to help someone in distress.
"What we believe is that the victim was coming to the aid of a person who was either in a fight or being assaulted by another individual and it appears the victim intervened as a peacemaker in attempts to end the fight and he became a victim himself," Const. Carr said.
Cory Wright has been charged with the sailor’s murder. The 23-year-old Halifax man was on parole for a near-fatal stabbing in 2002.
Petty Officer 1st Class Crooks was a crew member of USS Doyle, which stopped in Halifax last week before starting a series of exercises with the Canadian military.
Visiting ships are usually given a security briefing from local authorities before they send sailors ashore for leave in a foreign port, said Lt. Mike Kafka of U.S. navy public affairs. It would be common sense not to flaunt jewelry in those situations, he said.
The Halifax briefing comes from intelligence experts and military police, said Canadian navy spokeswoman Lt. Marie-Claude Gagne.
"To date, they have not made any changes to the brief as a result of (last) weekend’s incident," she said.
"They will evaluate and determine whether or not changes are required.
""But, to be honest with you, we believe that it’s an isolated and random act and that it will not have any impact on the actual brief delivered."
Visiting ships are informed about crime around CFB Halifax and downtown Halifax, Lt. Gagne said. Crimes in outlying areas are less likely to be part of the briefing because it’s unlikely visiting sailors will go there.
"We do, however, identify Gottingen Street, due to its proximity to the dockyard and the base, as an area known for criminal activity including drugs, prostitution and assaults," said Lt. Gagne, adding visiting sailors are also told to take cabs back to their ships late at night and to make sure they go out with a buddy.
