Report: Witnesses Offer Conflicting Testimony In METALLICA-Related Fan Death

Eliza Barlow of the Edmonton Sun reports: Four teens were walking away from a fight with Stefan Conley (photo) on a city bus when Conley reached for one of them and was shoved to the floor, a teen witness told court [Wednesday, Jan. 3].

The girl testified Wednesday at a preliminary hearing to determine whether four teen boys will stand trial on manslaughter charges in the March 2 slaying of Conley, 35.

Three of the accused were 17 and one was 16 at the time.

The witness, whose name can't be printed because she's a youth, said she was at the back of the bus along with Conley and four boys as the bus headed west from Mill Woods.

A dispute broke out between Conley and the four boys about the heavy metal band METALLICA and got increasingly heated, the girl said. Two other teen witnesses have also testified the fight began with a dispute over METALLICA.

One of the boys, who the girl called "METALLICA guy" in a statement to cops, had a METALLICA tattoo on his arm, she said.

"The victim was saying he went to one of (METALLICA's) concerts and he was more of a fan (than the teens) because he was there when they were around, and now they don't tour."

All of a sudden, Conley got angry, went over to one of the seated teens and punched him, said the girl.

Her version conflicted with those of two previous teen witnesses, who testified Conley grabbed the teen by the collar area of his jacket but threw no punches.

One of the boy's friends tried to pull Conley off the teen and all of the boys then started punching Conley, she said. Then they stopped punching and went to get off the bus.

Read the entire article at www.edmontonsun.com.