The jury in the murder trial of 26-year-old Alvin Patrick Junior Naistus heard from a security guard Tuesday who was working at the Northwoods Inn the morning of the killing.
Naistus, whose trial began Monday in Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench, is charged with second-degree murder in the April 2015 death of William “Billy” Johnston.
Sean Rector, who was working as a security guard at the motel at the time, told court he saw a bald man holding a pair of scissors being chased by another man holding what he believes was a knife around the motel. He described seeing the bald man backing away from the other man.
“He was backing up the entire time,” Rector testified. “The only motions with his hands were for defensive purposes.”
He described seeing the chaser take a “final swing” with what looked like a knife before the bald man “collapsed like a tree.”
He testified seeing the attacker flee followed by a black car driving away, heading north on Idylwyld Drive.
Johnston, 44, died of a stab wound to his chest, according to an admission of facts by the Crown and defence. Scissors with blood on them were found near his body afterward, according to numerous witnesses who testified in the trial. Court also saw photos of two pools of blood on the concrete.
The jury also heard Tuesday from members of the Saskatoon Police Service who worked on the case. Sgt. Frank Parenteau, with the forensic identification unit, showed court a dagger-style knife with blood on it and a sheath, which were recovered a couple blocks away on the 100 block of 29th Street West. The knife, which has a blade about 17 centimetres long, was found by a civilian who turned it over to police on the same day as the murder.
Parenteau testified police believed it could be related to the murder at the Northwoods. Court heard Naistus's DNA wasn't found on the knife or on a car that police also seized.
Parenteau took photos of Naistus and said he was compliant with police and only noticed a small abrasion on his right knee that didn’t seem very fresh.
The trial is scheduled for three weeks.