The night Jerzy Michalak won big on a VLT he never got a chance to enjoy his winnings.
On that supposedly lucky night in August 2010, Michalak was attacked and robbed outside the Silver Martini bar in west Edmonton. He suffered a fractured skull and significant brain injuries.
Since then, he has been unable to live alone. He cannot care for himself and resides in an assisted-living facility.
Troy Dustin Cardinal is now on trial for robbery and aggravated assault.
At the start of the trial Tuesday, Cardinal pleaded not guilty to both charges.
‘He had won lots of money’
Witness Lisa Halcrow testified that she began drinking beer at home on that Saturday night eight years ago. She got a phone call from Cardinal, her ex-boyfriend, and they agreed to meet up at the Silver Martini.
Lisa Halcrow testified she had a feeling something bad was going to happen to Jerzy Michalak after her ex-boyfriend got into an argument with him. (Facebook )
“I ordered a drink and I went to the VLTs,” Halcrow testified. “I sat at the machines and he [Troy] sat at a table.”
Soon Halcrow began talking to the man on her left who “had won lots of money” on his VLT.
Michalak, who was 55 that night, kept winning and bought Halcrow a couple of drinks. She told court she thought that made Cardinal jealous. At one point, Cardinal approached the VLTs and got into an argument with Michalak.
“I told Troy to quit arguing with the old guy,” Halcrow said. “Then Troy left. And me and this guy, we went out for a smoke.”
Halcrow said she had a bad feeling and warned Michalak “something was going to happen.”
“I knew Troy was going to do something to him,” she testified.
Troy Cardinal, 35, is charged with robbery and aggravated assault. (Edmonton Police Service )
When she saw Cardinal approaching, Halcrow returned to the bar. When she went outside again and peeked around a corner, she testified, she saw Cardinal’s arm go up towards the victim’s head.
“He fell on the ground,” Halcrow said. “He was laying on the ground. He wasn’t moving.”
Halcrow said the next time she checked outside, police were on the scene. She walked home without telling anyone what she had seen.
Hours later, she said, Cardinal showed up on her doorstep.
“I told him to leave, because I didn’t want him there,” Halcrow said.
She insisted she never asked Cardinal about what happened that night and didn’t ask him if he had any money after his alleged encounter with Michalak outside the bar.
That was the last time she spoke to Cardinal, she told court.
“He tends to lie,” she said. “I just quit talking to him because he’s trouble.”
Halcrow was originally charged with robbery in the case. But Sgt. Neil Thompson of the Edmonton police testified that the investigation found she had no advance knowledge about a plan to rob Michalak and did not take any money from the victim.
The trial continues Wednesday.