The accused killer of a Sherwood Park teenager made a brief appearance yesterday, overlooking a packed courtroom via closed-circuit television.
Justin Anthony Faltermeier, 18, stood anxiously in blue prison coveralls at his first court appearance in the murder of Blaine Arthur McNally, 18, who was stabbed to death at a condo party last weekend.
Though Faltermeier was not scheduled to plea on a charge of first-degree murder yesterday, he proclaimed his innocence to the court.
“I plead not guilty until I get (counsel),” he said.
Family members of both the victim and the accused sat in court yesterday.
“I support him one hundred per cent. I know he’s telling the truth in regard to this,” the accused teen’s father, Mark Faltermeier, told Metro, adding he hired a lawyer yesterday to defend his son.
He claims his son worked until 2 a.m. the night of the slaying.
“He wasn’t drunk or intoxicated. He had his head on his shoulders at that time.”
McNally’s grandfather said little after the proceedings. Though when asked of his thoughts sitting in court, he said “nothing went through my head — my grandson is gone.”
Having just begun his adult life, McNally recently landed a job as a bartender. Friends remember the 18-year-old as warm, friendly and a talented guitar player.
He died defending a friend at a party near the Sherwood Park Mall, friends say. Paramedics rushed to the Broadmoor Lake Condominium complex around 3 a.m. Sunday and transported McNally to hospital where he died.
McNally’s memorial service is set for Saturday afternoon at Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Sherwood Park.
Faltermeier is due back in court on Aug. 5.
