Pubdate: 1 December 1998
Source: Edmonton Journal (Canada)
Contact:  http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Edmonton Journal
Author: Gordon Kent, Journal Staff Writer

ABDUCTED OVER LOST KILO OF POT, VICTIM TESTIFIES

Edmonton - It sounds like an old detective movie -- the wrong man
abducted, whipped and fed truth serum to make him confess to stealing
a missing treasure.

Shane Letwin says the men who took him for a drive in the country even
shot his dog dead in their hunt for a kilo of lost marijuana.

But he insisted all along he wasn't involved, he was just mixed up
with a bad crowd.

Letwin was the main witness Monday in the trial of Graham Elliott
Walker, one of six men he says attacked him four years ago.

He testified that Ben Young had accused him of taking the marijuana
from his home and Letwin thought the matter was over.

But Young, Walker and several other men showed up at his girlfriend's
door Aug. 19, 1995, and asked him to go to talk to someone.

Tart laced with LSD

It quickly became apparent he was still their prime suspect. His
wrists were handcuffed and Young produced what he said would be
Litwen's last meal -- a butter tart.

Young later told him it was laced with LSD to act as a truth
serum.

They drove to an acreage near Spruce Grove where Litwen's
three-year-old bull terrier lived.

Young went to talk to the person living in the house as the others
gathered around Litwen.

"The rest of the guys were ... telling me things weren't going to get
any better, I had better 'fess up."

When Young returned, he pulled a 9 mm pistol from his belt and told
Litwen he had one last chance to admit taking the drugs.

Meanwhile, the dog bit someone who tried to pat him.

"They all just said 'shoot the dog,' so Ben did," Litwen
testified.

"He shot him once in the head. He ran around the dog house and came
out and charged the group. At that point Ben shot him four more times."

With that, they packed Litwen, 32, back into the van and took him to a
nearby shed.

They forced him to kneel, hands cuffed behind his back, while Young
put a telephone book against his face and whacked it with a blackjack.

Others kicked and punched him. Then they put their bloodied victim
into the van and went to Young's home near Alberta Beach, 50 km west
of Edmonton.

On the way they bought paper towels to staunch his wounds. "I was told
not to bleed on (Young's) van or it would get worse."

Inside Young's garage, Walker forced him to kneel again and his
sweater was pulled up.

Richard Boechler took a ridged snowmobile drive belt made of Kevlar
off the wall and hit his back four or five times.

Litwen said it left marks that lasted for more than two years, but he
didn't feel any pain from the whacking or when a finger was later
broken so badly it stuck out at right angles from his hand.

Set own broken finger

"I set my finger (straight) myself ... I think adrenalin and shock
were more in effect than anything else."

Young eventually sent most of the other men home and seemed to satisfy
himself that Litwen wasn't the thief.

He insisted he clean up and spend the night, driving him to hospital
the next day.

Litwen told doctors he was hurt in a fight.

He didn't call police until six weeks later, when Young came after him
with a knife and cut his hands.

He admitted under cross-examination that some details of the incident
were hazy, but denied missing the important points.

"It may be quite a few years before I actually forget what happened to
me that particular day." 

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Checked-by: Rich O'Grady