Joseph was shocked when he realized the man accused of killing a store owner at an Edmonton mall was the same man who attacked him with a hammer last summer.

Jordan Cushnie, 23, is accused of fatally assaulting flower shop co-owner Iain Armstrong, 61, who tried to stop him from allegedly stealing money from a cash box at a Southgate Centre kiosk last month.

In June 2017, Joseph said he intervened when he spotted a man near Whyte Avenue committing a crime. He soon found himself in a fight for his life.

Good Samaritan recalls a violent confrontation with accused murderer 2:25 "I got lucky but I just can't imagine how alone [Armstrong] must have felt — for doing the right thing," Joseph told CBC News, tearing up. "I'm so sorry for his family."

Joseph is one of three people assaulted by Cushnie in past altercations who agreed to speak to CBC. They asked that their real names not be used, so pseudonyms are used instead.

As an adult, Cushnie has racked up 17 convictions, including four separate assaults and three drug possessions for a total of nearly four years behind bars.

His probation conditions included an order to take psychiatric or psychological counselling and drug abuse treatment as directed by his parole supervisor.

Cushnie now faces five new charges, including the second-degree murder and robbery of Armstrong.

In Joseph's opinion, Cushnie's life circumstances reflect a broken system that needs to change.

Iain Armstrong, with his wife Sharon, was fatally attacked at Southgate Centre while trying to stop a thief. (Facebook/Pray for Iain Armstrong) "Just throwing people in jail is clearly not working," said Joseph, pointing to Cushnie's violent criminal record. "He is one of hundreds that shouldn't be back on the streets."

It was just after 2 p.m. one day last June, Joseph said, when he pulled over at a park near the Strathcona Farmers' Market after he heard the scream of a woman who was being beaten.

After rushing past bystanders recording the assault on their cellphones, Joseph said the attacker warned him to mind his own business, then pulled a claw hammer from a bag.

"He just lunged right at me with the hammer," said Joseph, who was knocked on the side of the head then found himself on the ground wrestling with Cushnie, who bit his forearm while observers kept recording.

"I couldn't choke him out," Joseph said. "I couldn't do anything. No matter what I tried, he was insane."

I couldn't choke him out. I couldn't do anything. No matter what I tried, he was insane. - Jordan Cushnie's previous victim

When the woman he was trying to rescue turned on him, Joseph knew he was in trouble. She punched and kicked him while declaring her love for Cushnie, then let loose with a can of bear spray inches from his face.

"I was obviously blinded and it was the fear of not knowing what was happening," said Joseph, who recalled the bear spray made it more difficult to hold on to Cushnie.

"Nobody was helping," he said. "And then all of sudden the crowd would just scream. I didn't know what was happening. Like, was I expecting an axe or another hammer or a knife now?"

A second man, who CBC News is calling Don, told CBC he also tried to stop Cushnie that day. Don said he managed to pry the hammer away from Cushnie then called 911, as both men pinned Cushnie to the ground until police arrived.

Court records show the Crown laid 12 charges against Cushnie, who was described as being from "no fixed address." He was charged with assaulting both men who intervened, as well as a female bystander.

In a plea deal, Cushnie was sentenced to nine months in jail on three charges, including the assault with a weapon against Joseph. Given credit for time already spent in jail, he served only half of his sentence.

Looking back, Don said he is glad he was not alone that day.

"I just feel really lucky that I had some help, that there was another Good Samaritan there," he said. "It could have been much worse."

Stabbed twice by Cushnie

Another victim who spoke to CBC echoed similar sentiments. In April 2016, the man, who was 18 at the time, was walking home with his pregnant girlfriend when he came upon Cushnie rummaging in a garbage dumpster.

Cushnie asked him to shake hands, he said. When he refused, Cushnie, who he said seemed "jacked up on drugs," stabbed him twice, once in the chest and once below the belt.

Cushnie was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in jail for assault causing bodily harm. His victim questions if that went far enough.

"I wish somebody would actually do something so more people would stop getting hurt," he told CBC News. "Maybe drug treatments for one, longer sentences for two. Something to make him realize what he's done and how bad it actually is."

On Saturday, family members honoured Armstrong at a celebration of life.

His life started in a remote town in Liberia surrounded by jungle. Armstrong's family later moved to an isolated Ontario hamlet, where he would one day work in an iron pit mine next to his father to pay for university.

Iain Armstrong with his two children, Sean and Dana. (Sean Armstrong) Armstrong trained with the B.C Lions football team prior to a knee injury. He earned an economics degree, volunteered and shared 37 years with his wife, Sharon, which included raising two children and co-founding Bunches Flower, a flower shop chain.

The bystander effect

Armstrong's son Sean told CBC that if his dad saw something bad happening, "he would never turn a blind eye."

"He would always do what he could to improve the situation and improve the lives of the people around him, even at risk to himself," Sean said in an interview with CBC's Edmonton AM radio program.

"The bystander effect is becoming more and more common nowadays, especially with social media and YouTube. Everybody wanting to get as many hits as possible. Everybody standing off to the sidelines with their cellphones out. And I think that's a tragedy in society."

Edmonton police have repeatedly warned witnesses to capture crimes on video rather than intervene.

But Joseph questions if that's always the best advice. He said he wished he'd had more help that day in the park when he tried to subdue Cushnie.

"How would you feel if you were the one asking for help and no one is stepping forward?" he asked. "Even worse, they sit there with a phone. This isn't about Facebook likes anymore. This can happen to anybody."

@andreahuncar

​andrea.huncar@cbc.ca