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Cher Finzel testifies about the night her fiance Nicholas Blackburn was killed. She was testifying for the prosecution during kenyatta Harlston's second-degree murder trial at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo. Harlston, of Clinton, is accused of stabbing Blackburn, 24, to death. (Associated Press photo)
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MORE PICTURES: Slain man's fiancee recalls his final moments
By JEFF REINITZ, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO —- The fiancee of a slain Dubuque man recounted the last moments of his life as trial for his accused killer continued Thursday.
Authorities said Kenyatta Harlston, 40, of Clinton, stabbed Nicholas Blackburn, 24, as Blackburn approached a racially charged fight in downtown Dubuque in August 2007.
Charged with second-degree murder, Harlston’s trial was moved to Waterloo because of publicity in Dubuque.
Cher Finzel, 22, Blackburn’s fiancee and the mother of his two children, told jurors they started the night at the Summer’s Last Blast festival, and they went bar hopping for drinks and pool with friends after that.
Other witnesses said four black men began chasing Blackburn’s friend, Steve Gallaher, when Gallaher left the Instant Replay bar and began shouting “white power” and racial slurs.
A fight involving anywhere from seven to 16 people broke out, and Blackburn and Finzel came across the scuffle as they headed to Beanies restaurant for a bite to eat.
Finzel said Blackburn approached the fight and went into the crowd.
From a distance, she saw three black men next to Blackburn, who appeared to lose and then regain his balance. The trio then fled.
“It looked like his foot slipped,” Finzel said. “I made eye contact with Nick. He looked down, and I realized he was stabbed.”
She called 911 on her cell phone and took off after the fleeing black men. She identified one as Harlston.
Finzel broke into tears on the stand as prosecutors played a recording of her call to dispatchers.
When the attackers escaped, Finzel returned to Blackburn, who had fallen to the ground.
“I lifted up his shirt to see where he was stabbed,” she said.
He wasn’t breathing and was turning blue, and she tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resucitation until police and paramedics arrived.
Also on Thursday, a friend of Harlston said he saw Harlston near Blackburn during the fight.
The friend, Greg Buchanan, also described how Harlston changed his clothes and talked about ditching the knife after they retreated to the apartment of an acquaintance identified as Tony near the scene of the stabbing.
Buchanan recounted how he, Harlston, Tony and Adrian Roberson were hanging out in front of the apartment when they saw Steve Gallaher get in an argument with another man after leaving Instant Replay. When they asked Gallaher if he was OK, Gallaher responded “What the (expletive deleted) are you (n-word)s looking at?”
They exchanged words, and Buchanan and his friends began chasing Gallaher. Gallaher’s brother, William Gallaher, then came up to them, and the fight broke out.
Buchanan said he saw Harlston near Blackburn during different glances.
“I seen him when he was running to Blackburn, and I seen him running from Blackburn,” Buchanan said.
He said he didn’t see a knife during the scuffle and didn’t notice Harlston make any stabbing motions.
But he did see blood on Blackburn’s shirt, and he questioned Harlston when they fled back to the apartment.
“He paused and then he said ‘I (expletive deleted) stabbed him,’” Buchanan said.
Harlston and Tony changed clothes, and Harlston showed the others a folding knife and talked about washing it to remove any traces of blood.
Buchanan said he told Harlston he’d never be able to clean off all of the blood. He said he last saw the knife when Harlston walked toward the back of the apartment with it, and he assumes Harlston threw out the weapon.
Police arrived at the apartment a short time later.
He identified the knife when prosecutors showed one that was entered into evidence.
A Dubuque County sheriff’s deputy said Harlston didn’t appear remorseful when he was booked at the jail later that day.
The deputy testified Harlston told him he had been hit in the face and was jumped by several people. Harlston said it was “too bad someone had to die” and he was at the jail for self defense.
The trial continues today at the Black Hawk County Courthouse.
Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.
Authorities said Kenyatta Harlston, 40, of Clinton, stabbed Nicholas Blackburn, 24, as Blackburn approached a racially charged fight in downtown Dubuque in August 2007.
Charged with second-degree murder, Harlston’s trial was moved to Waterloo because of publicity in Dubuque.
Cher Finzel, 22, Blackburn’s fiancee and the mother of his two children, told jurors they started the night at the Summer’s Last Blast festival, and they went bar hopping for drinks and pool with friends after that.
Other witnesses said four black men began chasing Blackburn’s friend, Steve Gallaher, when Gallaher left the Instant Replay bar and began shouting “white power” and racial slurs.
A fight involving anywhere from seven to 16 people broke out, and Blackburn and Finzel came across the scuffle as they headed to Beanies restaurant for a bite to eat.
Finzel said Blackburn approached the fight and went into the crowd.
From a distance, she saw three black men next to Blackburn, who appeared to lose and then regain his balance. The trio then fled.
“It looked like his foot slipped,” Finzel said. “I made eye contact with Nick. He looked down, and I realized he was stabbed.”
She called 911 on her cell phone and took off after the fleeing black men. She identified one as Harlston.
Finzel broke into tears on the stand as prosecutors played a recording of her call to dispatchers.
When the attackers escaped, Finzel returned to Blackburn, who had fallen to the ground.
“I lifted up his shirt to see where he was stabbed,” she said.
He wasn’t breathing and was turning blue, and she tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resucitation until police and paramedics arrived.
Also on Thursday, a friend of Harlston said he saw Harlston near Blackburn during the fight.
The friend, Greg Buchanan, also described how Harlston changed his clothes and talked about ditching the knife after they retreated to the apartment of an acquaintance identified as Tony near the scene of the stabbing.
Buchanan recounted how he, Harlston, Tony and Adrian Roberson were hanging out in front of the apartment when they saw Steve Gallaher get in an argument with another man after leaving Instant Replay. When they asked Gallaher if he was OK, Gallaher responded “What the (expletive deleted) are you (n-word)s looking at?”
They exchanged words, and Buchanan and his friends began chasing Gallaher. Gallaher’s brother, William Gallaher, then came up to them, and the fight broke out.
Buchanan said he saw Harlston near Blackburn during different glances.
“I seen him when he was running to Blackburn, and I seen him running from Blackburn,” Buchanan said.
He said he didn’t see a knife during the scuffle and didn’t notice Harlston make any stabbing motions.
But he did see blood on Blackburn’s shirt, and he questioned Harlston when they fled back to the apartment.
“He paused and then he said ‘I (expletive deleted) stabbed him,’” Buchanan said.
Harlston and Tony changed clothes, and Harlston showed the others a folding knife and talked about washing it to remove any traces of blood.
Buchanan said he told Harlston he’d never be able to clean off all of the blood. He said he last saw the knife when Harlston walked toward the back of the apartment with it, and he assumes Harlston threw out the weapon.
Police arrived at the apartment a short time later.
He identified the knife when prosecutors showed one that was entered into evidence.
A Dubuque County sheriff’s deputy said Harlston didn’t appear remorseful when he was booked at the jail later that day.
The deputy testified Harlston told him he had been hit in the face and was jumped by several people. Harlston said it was “too bad someone had to die” and he was at the jail for self defense.
The trial continues today at the Black Hawk County Courthouse.
Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.
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EdSmith43 wrote on Sep 19, 2008 10:48 AM:
" What a classy headline. More Photos!! Help the Courier cash in on the the victims' pain!!! "
gramma of 2 wrote on Sep 19, 2008 2:27 PM:
" I do feel sorry for the young man that was killed but why would you want to go see what is going on? Just like the young man in Cedar Falls that got stabbed that was trying to stop a fight. If I were to see something like that, I would definitely stay away. "
waterloo82 wrote on Sep 19, 2008 2:56 PM:
" May God bless the family and friends of Nick. It's too bad his children will grow up without knowing their father... "
frogge wrote on Sep 19, 2008 4:24 PM:
" The picture they should have shown is the picture of the thug who is on trial! "
Panther88 wrote on Sep 19, 2008 5:17 PM:
" Just another perfect example of why the State of Iowa needs to have the Death Penalty and the fortitude to use it! "
courier_reader921 wrote on Sep 20, 2008 12:36 AM:
" The "more photos" headline you see all the time is online only. The courier is not profiting much from it's online users. The often put more photos in the headline because they added photos and added more information to the original story. Stop being so cynical of a good newspaper. "
Get Real wrote on Sep 20, 2008 8:49 PM:
" So, how is the racist white guy with the big mouth feeling now? Keep your mouth shut, and if you can't handle your liqour Don't drink! How many of these stories do we need to read about. Sounds like far to many people were acting really stupid and violent that night and now someone whom sounds relatively innocent is dead. How senseless, yes they should go to prison but also those that started it can sit their A's in jail too! I don't have friends nor associate myself with ignorant racist people and it sounds like this man should have had a few more respectable friends and a few less racist ones. "
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myvoicematterstome wrote on Sep 19, 2008 8:53 AM: