A Sarnia-Lambton jury delivered a guilty verdict on Tuesday in the harrowing Walpole Island homicide case, convicting the accused of second-degree murder and kidnapping after a month-long trial that revealed gruesome details of the crime.
Verdict Reached After Deliberations
The jury returned with their unanimous decision around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, slightly more than twenty-four hours after beginning deliberations. They found Jahton Blair guilty of second-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of 25-year-old Windsor man Oyebode Oyenuga.
Brutal Details of the Crime
According to evidence presented during the trial, Oyenuga was driven to Walpole Island in his own BMW while unconscious from drugs on February 3, 2021. He was shot three times in the head near Pump House Road. Following the shooting, his body was burned, dismembered, placed in garbage bags, and discarded in water approximately three kilometers away near Dynamite Cut Road.
Blair, who has connections to both Windsor and the Toronto area, had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping when the trial began on February 10. A third charge of offering an indignity to human remains through burning and dismemberment was withdrawn later in the proceedings.
Legal Proceedings and Sentencing
Superior Court Justice Kelly Gorman spent several hours on Monday providing the jury with legal instructions regarding the two remaining charges. She outlined the four possible verdicts for the homicide charge: guilty of first-degree murder, guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.
During these instructions, Justice Gorman explained that the jury could consider a second-degree murder conviction if they believed Blair was involved in a common unlawful purpose related to the killing. Following the guilty verdict, Gorman informed the jury that she would impose the mandatory life sentence, though they would have input on parole ineligibility ranging from 10 to 25 years. Formal sentencing is scheduled for later this year.
Trial Testimony and Background
Key witnesses in the trial included Saccara Johnson and Rolf Agard from Windsor, along with Walpole Island residents Amanda Altiman and Nathan Sharrow. Testimony revealed that both Agard and Oyenuga had previous sexual relationships with Johnson, though they were strangers before February 2, 2021.
On that day, hours before Oyenuga's murder, the two men fought outside Johnson's bedroom in her Windsor home on Secord Avenue. Oyenuga emerged victorious from the altercation and humiliated Agard by pulling his pants down in front of several witnesses.
A bloodied and embarrassed Agard, along with Johnson and others, subsequently gathered in the kitchen of Blair's residence on University Avenue in Windsor. According to testimony, there was discussion about Agard's injuries and statements that nobody should interfere with Blair's associates. Conversations also reportedly included plans to assault Oyenuga and abandon him somewhere to walk home.
Blair remained composed in the prisoner's box of the second-floor Sarnia courtroom as the verdict was announced, wearing a black hoodie and looking straight ahead without visible reaction to the jury's decision.
