Week one of Joshua Petrin’s first-degree murder trial wrapped up with testimony from his ex-girlfriend.
Karissa Dow took the stand Friday at Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench, outlining Petrin’s relationship with a man several Crown witnesses have said was the intended target of a failed gang hit that led to Santos’ death.
Santos, a 34-year-old mother, was shot and killed inside her home in Saskatoon’s Westview neighbourhood on Sept. 12, 2012. Police said she was gunned down by members of an Alberta gang called the White Boy Posse, who hit the wrong house.
Several Crown witnesses have stated during the trial Petrin ordered the hit that led to the killing. A man named TJ Cromartie, who allegedly left the White Boy Posse, was the intended target, the witnesses said.
Dow’s testimony matched those statements. She told court Petrin did not report to anyone higher up in the White Boy Posse and said Petrin told her Cromartie took cash from a few members of the gang, as well as a gun.
She said Petrin wanted Cromartie dead, and she outlined a trip she made with Petrin to Saskatoon shortly before Santos’ death. They were in her car — the car police have implicated in the killing.
She said she was with Petrin the night before the shooting and that he was pacing and constantly on the phone. Two men who were with them were away with her car, she said. When they came back, the car was dusty.
Dow drove all four back to Lloydminster shortly after.
Her testimony also backed a previous Crown witness's statement that Cromartie often drove Petrin to the hospital. Complications from a 2012 surgery required Petrin to go to the hospital for an IV every day, she said.
Cromartie allegedly left the gang one day after driving Petrin to the hospital, according to Dow.
Petrin was one of three men arrested after Santos’ death. The other two were found guilty in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Both were sentenced to life in prison — though one has since appealed his conviction.
