Boy describes parents abuse

A 13-year-old boy yesterday drew a stick-figure diagram for a Belknap County Superior Court jury that depicted his parents pinning his little brother to the living room floor of their Belmont village home. In the drawing, the boy's step-father is sprawled across the 10-year-old body, weighing down the youngsters legs and securing his left arm. The mother is shown kneeling on the boys outstretched right arm and her right hand is holding a knife, pointed down.

Stephen Weiner, 49, went on trial yesterday for his alleged role in a child abuse campaign that culminated with the older boy calling 911 about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 of last year. The rookie Belmont dispatcher who took that call, Elizabeth Morse, testified he told her, "my parents are trying to kill my little brother".

Jurors then listened to a tape recording of the entire call from the shaking youngster, who was hiding behind the fence that shielded his next-door neighbors yard.

County Attorney Lauren Noether told jurors the Weiner home was dysfunctional and called Sept. 20 the day "all hell broke loose".

Weiner is charged with two counts of second degree assault and three additional counts of simple assault. The boy's mother, Jacqueline Weiner, 36, faces even more charges but her trial is still pending.

Attorney Jim Carroll, speaking in Stephen Weiner's defense, told jurors the Weiner family was indeed "in crises" but insisted the evidence presented at trial will show the boys' step-father was not the "perpetrator" in the abuse they suffered. Stating that Jacqueline Weiner had a substance abuse problem, Carroll portrayed his client as the one who "intervened. . . a safety valve. . the parent who sought help" and did not act "knowingly" in aiding his wife's abuse of the children.

The older of the boys was on the witness stand for most of the afternoon. Fighting back occasional tears and speaking in a voice that seemed to grow fainter as the minutes wore on, he told jurors of the events that led up to his running into the night, cell phone in hand.

He described how he had been made to stay upstairs while he listened to his brother crying and the sound of "punching and hitting" came up from below. When asked by Noether how he felt that night, the boy said, "I was scared and sad. . . I thought (my brother) was going to die."

Within two minutes of his call, two Belmont police officers were at the Weiner's 46 Concord Street home. The boys were taken into custody and have been under the supervision of the NH Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) since.

The younger boy was treated for puncture wounds to his right arm and a cut on his neck. He also had a number of bite mark Gustafson described Jacqueline Weiner as looking "sleepy" and said he believed that she was drunk. He said she was crying and told police the boys had stabbed her favorite teddy bear.

The officer also testified that he had been in the Weiner home just a week earlier, in answer to a call from Stephen Weiner that the boys had run away. When he was taken upstairs to the boys rooms the younger of the two crawled back through the window overlooking a porch roof they apparently considered their sanctuary and told the officer his parents "were drunks".

Gustafson said at about that same time Jacqueline Weiner called up from the bottom of the stairs, "Hey ___heads, you want some soup, or what?"

The older boy also testified about two earlier episodes of abuse, though he could not recall the dates.

In one instance, he said he witnessed his mother pin his little brother face down on the living room floor and burn a lit cigar into the middle of his upper back. In response to a question from Noether, he said Stephen Weiner was on the sofa watching.

In the other episode, the boy said his parents became upset with him because they could not locate his father's marijuana stash, which he said was usually stored in a Scrabble box. During this episode, the older boy said his step-father tied his legs together with a yellow rope.

The jury began the trial by visiting the Weiner's home in Belmont village. Their 13-year-old son will still be on the witness stand when the trial resumes this morning.