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SALT LAKE CITY — A clean cut young man — hair cropped close to the head, his manners almost excruciatingly proper — he looks like the former Navy man he once was.
In an emotional jailhouse phone call, his mother — crushed to learn her son Cody Augustine was in jail — told him he had been handed everything. And now, the man could spend up to life in prison for an "ambush" involving a battle ax, a knife and panic over a perceived sexually-transmitted disease.
A jury made up of three men and five women Thursday found Augustine guilty of attempted murder with injury, a first-degree felony, after a two-day trial and more than four hours of deliberation. When he is sentenced April 8, he could face a sentence of three years to life in prison.
I felt dirty. I didn't feel comfortable with what happened. It went further than I ever intended it to go.
–Cody Augustine
The way Cody Augustine tells it, he was "distraught" because he thought he had a sexually-transmitted disease and wanted to confront the then-teenager he believed gave it to a girl he was seeing.
He testified repeatedly in his own trial Wednesday that it was never his intent to kill — that intent being a crucial element in proving the charge of attempted murder. Augustine, 23, and co-defendant Scott Stapley, 24, went to the home of then-17-year-old Justin Ennis in 2008 and assaulted him with a medieval battle ax and a knife.
According to testimony given by Augustine and police detectives who investigated the case, Augustine began to suspect he may have contracted a sexually-transmitted disease. He informed the girl he had been seeing and she told him she had another sexual partner who may have given her the disease.
"I was kind of worried, approaching panic," Augustine said. "It continued to escalate as the pain grew. I began to be distressed. There was a chance I wouldn't be able to have children anymore. (The woman) was an unwitting victim as I saw it. I became very angry, distraught."
So distraught that he, Stapley and the woman left the home in Stapley's vehicle and headed to Ennis' Kearns home. The woman sent Ennis text messages asking him to meet her, making him a perfect target when the trio arrived.
"I figured we were going to have some words, if push came to shove we'd exchange a few blows and if I took the worst of it, then I took the worst of it," Augustine said.
He said he wasn't aware that Stapley exited the vehicle after he did, much less that he was toting a four-blade ax topped with a small mace. He said he struggled with Ennis and even landed a few blows before Ennis broke free.
He said he then saw Ennis and Stapley in a struggle and acknowledged that he chased Ennis down, but said he only had a knife on him because of some work he did unpacking boxes at his job. Why he stabbed Ennis multiple times he said he doesn't even know.
"I saw some blood and I wasn't exactly sure what happened," he said. "That unhinged me in a way."
Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Brent Adamson said the man repeatedly told him in an interview soon after that he didn't know what came over him and that he was afraid of himself.
"I felt dirty," Augustine said. "I didn't feel comfortable with what happened. It went further than I ever intended it to go."
Prosecutor Stephen Nelson expressed skepticism regarding a number of Augustine's statements, including his assertion he chased Ennis with a knife to protect Stapley.
"You're trying to defend Scott while you're stabbing this 17-year-old kid in the back?"
Nelson also asked Augustine about his belief that he was a victim, prompting Augustine to say he was a victim of his own "passion and stupidity." Augustine confirmed that he felt he was a victim even as he was stabbing Ennis, because he still believed he had an STD.
Defense attorney Randy Richards said he was disappointed with the verdict, as the jury declined to find Augustine guilty of a lesser charge such as aggravated assault. But he said Augustine took the news better than he did.
"I know him and I just don't think there's a murderous bone in his body," Richards said. "He's real nice, one of the most polite people I've ever met. Just a genuine good kid and he just had a momentary lapse of judgment."
A jury found Stapley guilty of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, in January 2009. He was sentenced to three years to life in prison. He was called as a witness in Augustine's case, but refused to testify.
E-mail: emorgan@desnews.com
