Stabbing murder victim's family asking for justice today

After more than a year of waiting, family and friends of Danny Trineer are hoping for some closure this week.

The sentencing hearing for 27-year-old Rodny Wiss Ceasar, of Hawkesbury, will take place at 3 p.m. today, Wednesday, January 18 at the courthouse in L'Orignal.

Ceasar was charged with first-degree murder following an early morning fight outside Déja Vu restaurant and bar in which Trineer, 32, from Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, was fatally stabbed on September 4, 2010.

Nathalie Paquette, Trineer's best friend of 17 years and eyewitness to the incident, said friends and family are hoping Ceasar is held accountable for his crime.

"We've been waiting a long time for this day," Paquette told The Review during an emotional phone interview on Monday, January 16. "It's been over a year but the memories of that night are still very clear in my mind. Even now, it's hard to talk about Danny and to think about what happened."

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers of the Hawkesbury detachment arrived at the Main Street bar at 1:05 a.m. on Saturday, September 4, to find Trineer with "apparent trauma to his body," according to an early police report.

Trineer was brought to Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, where he died of his injuries. A post-mortem was done at Ottawa General Hospital on the Saturday afternoon.

Ceasar turned himself in to the OPP detachment after the incident was reported. He was charged with first-degree murder in Ottawa court on Sunday, September 5 and remanded into custody.

Paquette recalled that she was standing "four feet away" from Trineer when Ceasar began stabbing him with a large knife that he allegedly pulled from his car prior to his confrontation with Trineer outside the bar.

Since the incident, Paquette said she has been in regular contact with Trineer's family. She said Trineer's death left a void inside her that she has been coming to terms with ever since her young friend died that fateful day.

"Not a day goes by that we (the family and I) don't talk," she stated. "We've stayed close and at this point, we just want the whole thing over with. We want closure and we want him (Ceasar) to pay for his crime. This wasn't an accident. My best friend was murdered and I want him to pay the price for taking Danny's life."

If Ceasar is convicted of first-degree murder, he is expected receive the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Paquette said the family won't accept anything less.

"That's the verdict all of us, friends and family, are hoping for," she remarked. "If he gets anything less, it will be unbearable and extremely unfair. The only way justice will be served, in our opinion, is if he gets the maximum sentence. Nothing else will do."

Despite this, Paquette said she realized nothing can bring her friend back. She said family and friends will be in court on Wednesday to hear the verdict and are hoping for the best.

"That's all you can do at this point," she said. "Nothing is going to bring Danny back, we all know that. But we can at least hope justice will be served. If nothing else, we just want justice for what happened to Danny.

"It's not fair that his life was taken away and the person responsible needs to pay for it."