A video taken at the Northwoods Inn the morning a man was fatally stabbed in the motel’s parking lot was played in court on day one of the accused’s murder trial.
Twenty-six-year-old Alvin Patrick Junior Naistus, whose trial began Monday in Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of William “Billy” Johnston.
Johnston, who was 44, was killed April 18, 2015. He was stabbed in the Northwoods parking lot and died in hospital.
Cellphone video recorded the morning of the killing was played Monday for the jury of seven men and five women. The three-minute video shows the inside of a motel room before pointing outside to the motel’s parking lot, where two men are seen squaring off before one falls and the other flees. Yelling is heard in the background.
Carol Cote, who recorded the video, took the stand at the trial as a Crown witness.
She began recording when she heard “an angry dispute” between Johnston and at least one other man, she told court. She said the man who fell to the ground was Johnston, but she couldn’t identify the man who ran, and said she saw scissors beside Johnston’s body afterward.
During cross-examination, Cote testified she was using drugs that morning and assumed Johnston was too.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczo told court Johnston was stabbed in the head and heart.
“This is a case about bravado,” she said in her opening statement to the jury. “This case is about anger. It’s about getting mad and getting even.”
She told the jury Naistus, Johnston and others were in a motel room together for a short time before Johnston got belligerent and left the room. Naistus followed, Claxton-Viczo said. The two men squared off and went back and forth before Johnston kept backing away while Naistus advanced. Johnston ran around the motel and Naistus followed. Naistus then stabbed Johnston in the heart and head before fleeing the scene, according to Claxton-Viczo.
Saskatoon police officer Blake Atkinson, who also testified Monday, said he was dispatched to a stabbing at the Northwoods Inn just before 6:30 a.m.
The constable saw Johnston fall to the ground seconds after he arrived on scene, he testified. At some point, he also found a pair of scissors, which were placed on top of the police car.
Court heard Johnston was not responding and his breathing was shallow. Atkinson noticed Johnston had abrasions to his temple and head — consistent with a fight, Atkinson described. After examining Johnston further, Atkinson realized he was suffering from a stab wound to his chest. Later, in hospital, it was discovered Johnston also suffered a laceration to his head.
Johnston died minutes after he arrived at Royal University Hospital — just after 7 a.m.
The Crown intends to call 18 more witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled for three weeks.
