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Man denies beating elderly woman despite DNA evidence, family connection

Cory Eide guilty of vicious attack on elderly Calgary woman

On the three-year anniversary of a brutal attack on an elderly Calgary couple in their home, the man on trial for the crimes testified in his own defence and denied any involvement — despite a family connection to the victims and his DNA being found at the scene.

Cory Eide, 45, is charged with aggravated assault, unlawful confinement, and breaking and entering.

"I did not do this," Eide told his lawyer, Robert Wachowich, on Tuesday afternoon.

Nicoletta and Guiseppe Memme lived in the community of Thorncliffe with their daughter next door and their son Gian across the street. Both are in their 70s and testified on Monday.

Around 5 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2015, the couple woke up to find two masked men in their kitchen. They were punched repeatedly and then tied to chairs in the basement while the robbers ransacked the house looking for money before they left with Nicoletta's jewellery.

Nicoletta needed several surgeries after suffering serious facial injuries and was hospitalized for weeks.

Family connection

Gian Memme's ex-wife Amanda Memme has been dating Eide for the past six or seven years.

Eide testified he has a 14-year criminal history including convictions for drug trafficking, criminal harassment and weapons offences.

In 2015, Eide had a home in Clive, Alta., but spent most of his time living with Amanda Memme — the victims' former daughter-in-law — at her home in Bonnyville, northeast of Edmonton. Amanda and Gian's daughter also lived there but would visit her father in Calgary.

Eide testified that he was in Calgary from Dec. 15 to 19, originally to attend the funeral of Amanda's nephew, but their stay was extended when his Jeep broke down.

The couple was staying at the Ambassador Inn, about six kilometres from the Memmes's house.

DNA evidence

Eide testified he and Amanda watched TV in the hotel room and then fell asleep around midnight on Dec. 17.

In the morning, Eide said, he learned about the Memmes being attacked and robbed when Amanda received a phone call.

Police seized a black latex globe from the Memmes's basement with Eide's DNA on the inside and Nicoletta's blood on the outside.

Eide said he uses gloves just like the one that was found at the crime scene almost every day for various tasks like piercing, cleaning and construction, tossing them in the nearest garbage or dumpster when he's done.

Although he initially denied knowing where the Memmes lived, Eide did eventually concede he might have dropped Amanda's daughter off at her father's house, which is on the same street as Guiseppe and Nicoletta's home.

"I think once I drove by, maybe dropped her off ... I believe it was John and them's," Eide told prosecutor Adam May during cross-examination.

Eide also told May he had used a black latex glove in the days he was in Calgary but couldn't remember where he'd thrown it away.

Defence will call more witnesses on Wednesday.