KENORA, Ont. - A drunken spat that escalated into a gang-style beating ended when one assailant kicked Edward Wilson’s head “the way you would a football,” court heard Monday.

Wilson’s body was later found in pieces on a nearby railway in Kenora, Ont.

Kenneth Ivall, 42, is charged with second-degree murder.

On Monday, court heard from Crystal McDonald and her fiance Fred Fisher, who were having a cigarette outside the main entrance of a motel when they saw a fight between Ivall and Wilson, later involving Ivall’s girlfriend, Angela Duchene, a former co-accused in the case, and then a group of men, who punched and kicked Wilson until he fell to the ground. Wilson then got up, they said, and ran around the corner with his attackers in pursuit.

In separate testimony, one of the men in the group of alleged attackers, Josh Rheault, said he did not take part in the beating but rather tried to help Wilson to little avail.

He described seeing one attacker kneeing Wilson repeatedly in the chest, who dropped to the pavement supporting himself on his hands and knees. Rheault said he then watched horrified as another gave Wilson a running kick to the head “the way you would a football” flipping him onto his back.

He said a woman he couldn’t identify told him she’d take care of Wilson, as the group left.

The Crown is trying to prove Ivall eventually dragged Wilson to the tracks and left him for dead.

The trial continues.