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Kevin
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Danny Tokarchuk
- Tokarchuk found guilty
- Jury rejects self-defence
argument in murder of Hells Angels associate
By Mike McIntyre, Winnipeg
Free Press, November 24th, 2004
DANIEL Tokarchuk committed
murder when he shot and killed Hells Angels associate Trevor
Savoie on a River Heights street, a jury ruled yesterday.
Tokarchuk had argued he killed
Savoie in self defence.
The case is believed to have
triggered the revenge killing of his innocent brother, which
resulted in controversy within the police service.
At least two of the jurors,
both female, were visibly upset and crying as the foreman read
the guilty verdict 26 hours after deliberations began. Savoie's
family, including his mother, brother, sister and former girlfriend,
were also wiping back tears.
Tokarchuk, 30, showed no emotion,
staring blankly ahead as he was convicted of second-degree murder,
which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison
with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.
Wearing a black suit, the shackled
Tokarchuk didn't even make eye contact with his mother, Diane,
who sat quietly alone in the back of the crowded courtroom. She
showed no reaction at any point during the two-week trial, even
when a chilling police video of her yet-to-be murdered son, Kevin,
was played for jurors.
"She's hurting. She's
lost two boys now," defence lawyer Greg Brodsky told the
Free Press outside court.
His client will return to court
Dec. 16 for the sentencing hearing.
Jurors had the option yesterday
to recommend that Tokarchuk's parole eligibility be raised to
anywhere from 11 to 25 years, but unanimously decided to keep
it at the minimum 10.
Queen's Bench Justice Joan
McKelvey will have the final say when she hands down the sentence.
"It's clear the jury didn't
like doing what they did," Brodsky said of the visible show
of emotion.
"They all knew his brother
was executed. But they obviously decided this was the verdict
they had to have based on the instructions from the judge."
No arrests have been made in
Kevin's killing, which occurred in the garage behind the family's
home.
Several sources have told the
Free Press a potential suspect was identified, but has
since died of a suspected drug overdose. The man was an associate
of the Hells Angels.
Just days before Daniel Tokarchuk's
trial began, three Winnipeg police officers were re-assigned
to administrative duties as the fallout continued over Kevin's
murder.
Police Chief Jack Ewatski has
refused to comment, citing an ongoing arbitration hearing set
to resume Jan. 17.
Six Winnipeg police officers
were initially removed from the job in the summer of 2003 amidst
allegations that members of the force ignored warnings that Kevin
was targeted for death, possibly as part of a gang revenge plot.
The officers were all returned
to different duties months later after an independent report
recommended no criminal charges be laid against them.
They have since filed a grievance,
claiming they were wrongly placed on paid leave by Ewatski and
that their careers and personal lives have suffered because of
it. They want a public apology from Ewatski and payment of lost
overtime and shift premiums.
A public arbitration hearing
examining the action taken against the officers was delayed Aug.
31 when Ewatski promised to turn over new material to the police
union just moments before he was set to testify.
Brodsky said yesterday he will
likely be appealing the guilty verdict against Daniel Tokarchuk,
based largely on the instructions McKelvey gave to jurors Monday
evening in response to a pivotal question.
McKelvey told jurors in her
charge that one of the factors to consider on the issue of self-defence
is whether Tokarchuk thought he was about to be unlawfully assaulted,
either by Savoie's words or actions.
The jury wanted to know the
full definition of the word "about" as it applied to
her instructions.
Brodsky believed they should
have been told there was no time limit or urgency as to when
Tokarchuk had to feel threatened.
"If you think you're in
danger and there's no escape, you don't have to wait for the
lifting of the knife of the pointing of the barrel to react,"
he said.
Crown attorney Bob Morrison
vehemently disagreed, saying an assault must be on the verge
of happening.
"According to (Brodsky's
definition), if you get threatened by a Hells Angels, you can
just go get a gun and kill one," he said.
"If Mr. Tokarchuk was
in danger and going to be harmed even a day later, that's not
enough."
McKelvey finally settled on
the standard Oxford's dictionary definition, telling jurors the
assault doesn't have to be imminent, "although imminent
is a factor they may consider."
Tokarchuk admitted he shot
Savoie but claims he had no other choice to protect himself and
his family.
Tokarchuk was selling drugs
for Savoie, but began using the product and fell nearly $15,000
in debt. Savoie had come looking for Tokarchuk several days before
the murder, speaking with his brother, Kevin. Savoie brought
along his friend, Tyler Cascisa, who had been convicted of killing
one of Kevin's friends years earlier.
In a videotaped statement prior
to his death, Kevin Tokarchuk told police Savoie even mentioned
speaking to their mother if Daniel -- who was hiding out in Ontario
-- didn't surface soon.
Brodsky claimed Savoie's actions
were meant to intimidate Tokarchuk and left him fearing for his
life. He also suggested other bikers may have been at the scene,
based on testimony from a witness he called last week.
Carol Bass-Amos told court
she saw two men wearing black leather jackets with a red winged
logo on the back, carrying guns and standing over Savoie's dead
body seconds after the shooting. She said three other men appeared
to be standing nearby.
Morrison described the evidence
of Bass-Amos as "sad, pathetic and disturbed."
Tokarchuk had just returned
the night of the killing from Ontario, where he had been hiding
out to avoid facing Savoie.
In a police interview, Tokarchuk
explained how he felt there was no choice but to kill Savoie.
Savoie threatened to beat him
with a golf club if he didn't repay the drug debt immediately,
said Tokarchuk. Savoie was also angry because Tokarchuk had lied
to him about not being off drugs.
"He kept saying you had
your chance, you had your chance. The way he was saying it made
me very nervous," he said.
"I could see he was going
to do something crazy because of the look on his face."
Tokarchuk said he heard Savoie
pick something "metallic" up and believed it was a
pipe. He also said he feared Savoie had a gun in his pocket.
"I pulled out my gun and
just pulled the trigger. Then I just ran," he said.
Tokarchuk denied picking the
shell casings up from the scene, and couldn't explain why police
never found them.
Police also found no weapons
on Savoie or near the scene, where he collapsed and died after
being shot three times -- including one bullet straight through
the heart.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't
want any of this to happen. I was just scared about my family,"
Tokarchuk said at one point in the interview while burying his
head in his hands.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Tears
greet verdict
Tokarchuk convicted of murder
By NATALIE PONA, COURTS
REPORTER, Winnipeg Sun, November 23, 2004
At least three jurors appeared
to be crying yesterday as they returned a guilty verdict to the
killer of Zig Zag Crew member Trevor Savoie. Daniel Tokarchuk,
31, was convicted of second-degree murder in the May 12, 2002,
shooting death of 25-year-old Savoie in River Heights. Savoie
had four bullet wounds, including one through his heart.
Tokarchuk faces life in prison
with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. The judge could
extend the period he must serve before being eligible for parole
at his sentencing hearing Dec. 16.
Tokarchuk was selling cocaine
for Savoie and owed him a $15,000 drug debt. He racked up the
debt after becoming addicted to the drug.
Savoie was a member of the
Zig Zag Crew, a puppet club of the Hells Angels.
Tokarchuk admitted to killing
Savoie but claimed it was in self-defence out of fear for his
life because he owed him money. In a videotaped statement to
police, Tokarchuk said he shot Savoie after Savoie threatened
to beat him with a pole.
"Oh, Trevor, Trevor. Why
did you do that ... Why did it happen," Tokarchuk said on
the videotape.
During the trial, defence lawyer
Greg Brodsky focused on the issue of self-defence, but the jury
ultimately rejected it.
"Any vulnerable person
... knows when he's in danger. He knows that. You don't have
to wait till a gun is staring you in the face or a knife is over
your head. What the jury thought about that, I don't know,"
Brodsky said after the trial.
Some jurors had red noses and
some appeared to cry quietly as they returned their verdict at
3 p.m. yesterday.
Because of the display of emotion,
Brodsky asked to have the jurors polled. Each member stood and
declared Tokarchuk guilty.
Savoie's mother and sister
began to cry as the verdict was read. They declined to talk about
the jury's decision.
Tokarchuk, dressed in a black
suit, sat expressionless in the prisoner's box throughout the
reading of the verdict.
Tokarchuk's mother, Diane,
who had been in court since the trial began on Nov. 3, was not
present for the verdict. She arrived after and declined to discuss
the decision. Brodsky said Diane Tokarchuk was upset about the
trial's outcome.
"She lost one son, Kevin.
She's now had another son taken away from her. She's as you'd
expect her to be," Brodsky said.
Kevin Tokarchuk, 24, was shot
in the head in the garage of his family's home May 12, 2003 --
exactly one year after Savoie's murder.
No one has been arrested for
that killing.
PLACED ON LEAVE
Allegations police failed to
warn Kevin resulted in eight cops being placed on leave while
an investigation took place. All have returned to work or retired.
During the trial, Crown attorney
Bob Morrison called Kevin's murder "an act of vengeance,
a punishment to Daniel for (Savoie's) killing."
Kevin made a videotaped statement
to police shortly after Savoie's murder. On it, he said Savoie
contacted him multiple times asking about the whereabouts of
Daniel, who had escaped to Toronto shortly before the murder.
Savoie was trying to claim his debt.
If Queen's Bench Justice Joan
McKelvey does not increase the minimum parole eligibility, Tokarchuk
could be out of prison in 7 1/2 years, as he had been in custody
since five days after Savoie's murder, Brodsky said.
Brodsky said he is considering
an appeal.
Tokarchuk guilty of second-degree
murder
Broadcast News, November
23, 2004
WINNIPEG -- A jury has found
a Winnipeg man guilty of second-degree murder for killing a drug-dealing
associate of the Hells Angels.
Jurors returned the verdict
Tuesday afternoon in the case of 31-year-old Daniel Tokarchuk.
Tokarchuk and Trevor Savoie
were associates or the Zig Zig crew -- a feeder gang for the
Hells Angels.
The Crown argued Tokarchuk
meant to kill Savoie because of a drug debt in May 2002.
The defence argued the shooting
was in self-defence.
Jurors began deliberations
late yesterday after receiving final instructions from the trial
judge.
Around nine last night, they
asked for a definition of ``about,'' as in, what it meant when
Tokarchuk said Savoie was ``about'' to hurt him over a drug debt.
The conviction carries an automatic
life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years.
© Broadcast News 2004
- Murder jury resumes
today
- Blackout delays deliberations
By Mike McIntyre, November
23rd, 2004
A jury will resume deliberations
this morning in the second-degree murder trial of Daniel Tokarchuk
following a series of delays last night which included a courthouse
blackout and lengthy wait for an answer to an important question.
The six-man, six-woman panel
were sequestered overnight in a hotel as they consider whether
Tokarchuk was defending himself when he shot and killed Hells
Angels member Trevor Savoie in River Heights in May 2002.
Tokarchuk, 30, was dealing
drugs for Savoie but ran afoul of his friend when he began using
the product and ran up a $15,000 debt.
Tokarchuk has pleaded not guilty
on the basis of self-defence.
Queen's Bench Justice Joan
McKelvey told jurors earlier yesterday one of the factors to
consider on the issue of self-defence is whether Tokarchuk thought
he was about to be unlawfully assaulted, either by Savoie's words
or actions.
Jurors waited nearly an hour
last night as Crown and defence lawyers debated the definition
of "about".
Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky
said there is no time limit or urgency on when Tokarchuk had
to feel threatened.
Crown attorney Bob Morrison
vehemently disagreed, saying an assault must be on the verge
of happening.
"According to (Brodsky's
definition), if you get threatened by a Hells Angels, you can
just go get a gun and kill one," he said.
"If Mr. Tokarchuk was
in danger and going to be harmed even a day later, that's not
enough."
Brodsky argued the threat was
very real, both before and after Savoie was gunned down.
"We didn't make a bail
application in this case for a very good reason. We wanted to
keep this man alive," said Brodsky.
McKelvey finally settled on
the standard Oxford's dictionary definition, telling jurors the
assault doesn't have to be imminent, "although imminent
is a factor they may consider".
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Deliberations begin in
Tokarchuk trial
CBC, Nov 22 2004
WINNIPEG - After three weeks
of testimony, the jury is about to begin deliberations in the
trial of Daniel Tokarchuk, charged with second-degree murder
in the death of Trevor Savoie.
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Joan McKelvey read instructions
her instructions to the six man, six woman jury on Monday. She
urged jurors to consider whether they believe evidence heard
during the trial especially Tokarchuk's own videotaped
statement to police.
McKelvey said if the jurors
believed Tokarchuk's story that the shooting was in self defence,
they must acquit him.
Both Tokarchuk and Savoie were
drug dealers for the Hells Angels feeder gang, the Zig Zag Crew,
before Savoie was shot to death on May 12, 2002.
For the past three weeks, the
Crown has tried to demonstrate that Tokarchuk meant to shoot
Savoie because he had fallen behind on a drug debt. The defence
has argued the shooting was in self-defence.
- The jury in Tokarchuk's trial
will be sequestered until it reaches a verdict.
-
-
- Crown closes Tokarchuk
trial
- Dismisses 'horrible'
defence bid to suggest others were at killing scene
By Mike McIntyre, November
20th, 2004
TREVOR Savoie certainly had
support of the Hells Angels -- but none of his dangerous biker
friends was around the night he was shot dead by Daniel Tokarchuk
on a River Heights street, jurors were told yesterday. Crown
attorney Bob Morrison closed the second-degree murder case against
Tokarchuk yesterday by urging jurors to disregard a "horrible"
attempt by the defence to prove there may have been others at
the scene. Tokarchuk admits he shot Savoie, a Hells associate,
in May 2002 but claims it was done in self-defence. Morrison
said there is no merit to the claim, saying Tokarchuk was carrying
a loaded handgun while Savoie, who was much smaller in size,
had no weapons.
Savoie was struck four times,
including a fatal wound straight through his heart.
"Tokarchuk could have
broken him in half. (Savoie) was no match for the steroid-enhanced
Tokarchuk," said Morrison during his closing argument. The
jury will begin deliberations Monday morning.
"Trevor Savoie, all five-foot-six,
125 pounds, stood in that laneway looking death in the eye all
alone," he said.
Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky
has suggested other bikers may have been at the scene, based
on testimony from a witness he called earlier this week.
Carol Bass-Amos told court
she saw two men wearing black leather jackets with a red winged
logo on the back, carrying guns and standing over Savoie's dead
body seconds after the shooting outside her Waverley Street home.
She said three other men appeared to be standing nearby.
There was evidence during the
trial that Hells Angels member Dale Donovan got a phone call
from his good friend, Savoie, on the evening of the slaying.
Donovan then briefly went out with another Hells member, Darren
Hunter. Neither biker was called to testify during the trial.
The men are believed to have
gone out between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and returned about
20 minutes later. Savoie wasn't shot until 11:08 p.m.
"He certainly had some
dangerous and physical friends. You've heard about (Ian) Grant,
(Sean) Wolfe, (Dale) Donovan and (Darren) Hunter. But had they
been nearby to see Tokarchuk kill Savoie, we wouldn't be here
today. They would have killed him," Morrison said.
Morrison noted that Donovan
had a memorial tattooed on his arm that included Savoie's face
and date of death. Jurors were shown pictures of Donovan, the
tattoo and several other bikers including Grant, Wolfe and Hunter.
"What these men are capable
of was probably seen in the murder of Kevin Tokarchuk,"
he said.
Kevin Tokarchuk, Daniel's brother,
was shot dead exactly one year after Savoie's killing in a suspected
case of gang retribution. No arrests have been made.
Morrison described the evidence
of Bass-Amos yesterday as "sad, pathetic and disturbed."
"If this wasn't a courtroom
and this wasn't a murder trial, this would have actually been
quite funny," he said.
Bass-Amos's description of
a "virtual army" of people in the street contradicts
Tokarchuk's own statement to police in which he said Savoie and
himself were alone at the time of the shooting, said Morrison.
"If he had caught even
a glimpse of Savoie's powerful allies, he would have been shouting
that from the rooftop to police," he said.
Morrison said the defence evidence,
even if it were to be believed, actually supports the prosecution's
case as there is no way Savoie's friends would be acting the
way Bass-Amos described.
"According to her, they
were humiliating and abusing him at the time of his death. She
described them as acting with incredible cruelty," said
Morrison.
"If people really were
doing all that, you can be certain it wasn't the Hells Angels
or the Zig Zag Crew."
He said the only explanation
is that the men were friends of Tokarchuk's, which adds "a
new element of evil" to the case.
Bass-Amos said she rushed back
inside her house and went to bed without calling police.
"No person seeing what
she says she saw would do that," said Morrison.
Tokarchuk was selling drugs
for Savoie, but began using the product and fell nearly $15,000
in debt, according to witness testimony.
Savoie had come looking for
Tokarchuk several days before the murder, speaking with his brother,
Kevin, court was told. Savoie brought along his friend, Tyler
Cascisa, who had been convicted of killing one of Kevin's friends
years earlier.
In a videotaped statement prior
to his death, Kevin Tokarchuk told police Savoie even mentioned
speaking to their mother if Daniel -- who was hiding out in Ontario
-- didn't surface soon.
Brodsky claimed Savoie's actions
were meant to intimidate Tokarchuk and left him fearing for his
life.
Morrison told jurors yesterday
Kevin never took that as a threat to harm his mother, and neither
should they. He said the statement most likely meant Savoie would
ask Tokarchuk's mother to repay the debt.
Tokarchuk had just returned
the night of the killing from Ontario and slept for much of the
30-hour drive home, according to Kevin Tokarchuk and his girlfriend
who were also in the car. Morrison said that indicates Tokarchuk
wasn't exactly scared for his life.
In a statement to police, Tokarchuk
claims Savoie suddenly pulled up beside his vehicle and threatened
to run him off the road. He denies ever calling Savoie that night.
Yet cellular phone records show he did place a call to Savoie
shortly before the shooting.
Tokarchuk claimed Savoie came
at him with a metal pipe or bar, but none was found by police
at the scene.
Police also couldn't locate
any shell casings at the scene, and Morrison said Tokarchuk likely
picked them up to hide evidence.
Brodsky had told jurors on
Thursday that Morrison was a master salesman who could put a
fine polish on the even the weakest of cases.
"I'm not trying to sell
anything here but the truth, a guilty verdict as charged,"
Morrison replied yesterday.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Tokarchuk's self-defence
claim strengthened, court hears
By Mike McIntyre, November
19th, 2004
DANIEL Tokarchuk's claim of
self-defence in the killing of Hells Angels associate Trevor
Savoie is bolstered by evidence that other bikers may have been
at the scene of the May 2002 shooting, defence lawyer Greg Brodsky
told jurors yesterday.
"How many others were
in that lane? Do we know?" he asked during his closing argument
at the high-profile second-degree murder trial.
Brodsky called a witness earlier
this week who claimed she saw two men wearing black leather jackets
with a red winged logo on the back, carrying guns and standing
over Savoie's dead body seconds after the shooting. The witness
said three other men appeared to be standing nearby.
There was also evidence earlier
in the trial that Hells Angels member Dale Donovan got a phone
call from his good friend, Savoie, on the evening of the slaying.
Donovan then briefly went out with another Hells member, Darren
Hunter. Neither biker was called to testify during the trial.
Brodsky suggested yesterday
it would have been "stupid" of Tokarchuk to murder
Savoie without good reason, considering Savoie had the backing
of the outlaw motorcycle gang.
'No point'
"There would be no point
to killing Mr. Savoie. If you kill one of them, you've got to
kill them all. It's all for one, one for all. (Back-up) could
be produced in seconds," Brodsky said.
"Do you know of any other
clubs out there that have a sergeant-at-arms that sanctions executions?"
His witness, Carol Bass-Amos,
told court she thought the two bikers she saw were laughing as
they stood over the fallen victim, and one of them might have
had his foot on Savoie's head.
Crown attorney Bob Morrison
grilled the woman in cross-examination, questioning why Savoie's
friends would have been laughing over his dead body. But Brodsky
downplayed that part of the woman's story yesterday.
"Was it a laugh, or just
a look of surprise when they saw this lady coming out of her
gate?" he asked jurors.
Bass-Amos claimed she heard
gunshots from her Waverley Street home, then rushed outside to
see the violent scene. She rushed back inside and went to bed.
She didn't call police until the following morning, then refused
to sign a formal statement.
Morrison will make his final
arguments today. The six-man, six-woman jury will begin deliberations
on Monday.
Brodsky said his client had
strong reasons to fear the Hells Angels, since Tokarchuk owed
Savoie $15,000 in drug debts.
- mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
-
-
- Crown attacks defence
witness
- Tokarchuk jury told
of 2 gun-toting bikers
By Mike McIntyre, November
17th, 2004
THE Daniel Tokarchuk second-degree
murder trial took a surprising turn yesterday when a defence
witness told jurors she saw two gun-toting bikers laughing over
Trevor Savoie's body seconds after he was shot.
Carol Bass-Amos, 51, testified
she heard five or six gunshots, then rushed out of her Waverley
Street home to find the pair standing over the victim. Three
other men appeared to be standing nearby, along with a man walking
his dog, she said.
One of the men -- who Bass-Amos
said was wearing a leather jacket with a red wing on the back
-- appeared to have his foot on the victim's head while pointing
a handgun towards him, she testified. The other man appeared
to be a dark-skinned, possibly native, teen, she said.
"They were bikers,"
she said, adding she had seen at least one of them previously
driving around the neighbourhood.
Bass-Amos told jurors she rushed
back inside the home she shared with her husband, son and mother
and went to sleep. She didn't speak with police until the following
morning, then refused to provide a sworn, signed statement.
Bass-Amos -- who told court
she has no criminal or psychiatric history -- was the only witness
called by defence lawyer Greg Brodsky.
She came under heavy attack
during cross-examination from Crown attorney Bob Morrison.
"The man on the ground
may have been suffering and you didn't even call an ambulance?
Any decent person who witnesses a murder or act of great violence
would call the police," said Morrison.
Bass-Amos's explanation was
that she didn't actually witness the murder, only the apparent
aftermath.
Morrison also questioned the
logic in Bass-Amos' claim that two bikers standing over Savoie
were laughing, noting Savoie was a member of the Zig Zag Crew,
the puppet club for the Hells Angels.
"You do know that the
Hells Angels and the Zig Zag Crew didn't find the shooting of
Savoie very funny, don't you?" he asked Bass-Amos.
In fact, Tokarchuk's brother,
Kevin, was shot dead exactly one year later in a suspected case
of gang retribution. No arrests have been made in that shooting.
Tokarchuk, 30, admits he killed
Savoie in May 2002 but claims it was in self-defence. He told
police in a videotaped statement that he feared Savoie because
of an outstanding $15,000 drug debt and because of Savoie's ties
to the Hells Angels.
There was never any mention
by Tokarchuk of anyone else being at the shooting scene besides
himself and Savoie.
Morrison also noted several
contradictions in Bass-Amos' evidence, including:
Bass-Amos described one of
the so-called bikers to police as having light reddish-blond
hair in a ponytail down to his shoulders. Yesterday, she said
the man had short brown hair.
Bass-Amos told Brodsky both
men standing over Tokarchuk's body appeared to be wearing the
same black leather jackets with a wing logo. However, she told
police -- and Morrison in cross-examination -- one of the men
might have been wearing a "bluish light summer jacket."
Bass-Amos told court she saw
both of the men carrying guns. She told police that only one
of the men had a weapon.
Bass-Amos told police, and
court, the victim on the ground was "big and white."
Morrison noted that Savoie stood 5-6, weighed 125 pounds and
was described by a witness who called 911 as being a 12-year-old
boy because of his small stature.
Bass-Amos told Brodsky yesterday
she heard "yelling and a clanking noise, like metal"
just prior to the shooting. Morrison noted she never told police
about that.
Lawyers will make closing arguments
tomorrow.
Jurors aren't expected to begin
deliberations until next Monday.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
- Prosecutor wraps case
against Tokarchuk
- Accused of killing Hells
Angels ally
By Mike McIntyre, November
16th, 2004
THE Crown closed its case against
accused murderer Daniel Tokarchuk yesterday, opening the door
for defence lawyer Greg Brodsky to call evidence this morning.
Tokarchuk, 32, claims he killed
Hells Angels associate Trevor Savoie in self-defence, and Brodsky
said yesterday he will present a case in his client's defence.
Crown attorney Bob Morrison
wrapped up his case yesterday by calling the last man to see
Tokarchuk before he was arrested by police in May 2002.
Carmine Puteri said his friend,
Tokarchuk, showed up at his door a day earlier looking for a
place to stay.
"He told me he was having
a feud with his girlfriend at the time," Puteri told jurors.
Puteri was working long hours
and said he barely saw Tokarchuk before police moved in and arrested
him outside his River Heights home.
Tokarchuk had spent two previous
nights with friends Ryan and Dustin LaFortune, but left when
the two brothers got nervous about his erratic behaviour, court
was told.
A strung-out and irrational
Tokarchuk mistook a picnic table for a police SWAT team and thought
of mailing himself in a cardboard box to escape arrest, according
to the brothers.
They said he was doing cocaine
around the clock, holding a silver handgun and speaking about
being in trouble with the police.
What the brothers didn't know
at the time of Tokarchuk's visit was that he had shot and killed
Savoie about an hour before his arrival, on a River Heights street.
The 25-year-old victim was
hit four times in the upper body and hand, including one bullet
straight through his heart.
Tokarchuk admits he killed
Savoie but claims it was self-defence because his former "good
friend" threatened to beat him over a $15,000 drug debt.
Tokarchuk was selling drugs
for Savoie, but got into trouble when he became hooked on the
product, jurors have been told.
Tokarchuk's brother, Kevin,
was shot dead exactly one year after Savoie's killing in a suspected
case of gang retribution. No arrests have been made in that slaying.
Queen's Bench Justice Joan
McKelvey called the sister of the girlfriend of Hells Angels
member Dale Donovan to testify yesterday.
The young woman told jurors
that Donovan got a call from Savoie during the evening he died.
Donovan left the home he was at during the evening with Hells
Angels member Darren Hunter, who is considered the "enforcer"
of the bikers.
The pair returned about 20
minutes later, the woman said yesterday. Neither appeared to
be angry or upset.
Donovan didn't find out about
Savoie's death until the following morning and had actually paged
Savoie about 90 minutes after he'd been shot, she said.
In his opening statement, Morrison
told jurors they'll never know what was said during the phone
call between Savoie and Donovan.
"For obvious reasons,
we're not calling active full-patch members of the Hells Angels
to give evidence. We can't rely on anything they'll say,"
he said.
But Morrison said it's important
to note Savoie went and met with Tokarchuk on his own, not bringing
any "muscle."
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Tape of Tokarchuk's police
statement shown to court
CBC, Nov 5 2004
WINNIPEG - Daniel Tokarchuk's
trial for second-degree murder continued in Winnipeg Friday with
a taped police statement from the accused himself.
Tokarchuk sat silently in the
prisoner's box throughout the day, watching the taped statement
he made to police five days after Trevor Savoie was shot to death
on May 12, 2002.
Tokarchuk is accused of shooting
Savoie after falling behind on a drug debt. In the video statement
played for jurors, Tokarchuk said he was scared of being beaten
with a golf club by Savoie. He said he fled to Hamilton for two
weeks, and when he returned, he happened to run into Savoie driving
around in the city.
Tokarchuk told the officers
Savoie called him on his cell phone and demanded he pull over.
Tokarchuk told officers he got out of his car and walked with
Savoie.
He said he fired his gun in
fear that Savoie was about to hit him with a metal pipe or shoot
him with a pistol.
On the videotape, a police
officer contradicted Tokarchuk's version of events. He tells
Tokarchuk that cell phone records show it was Tokarchuk who called
Savoie the night of the murder, noth the other way around.
That officer, Det. Sgt. Ross
Read, was on the witness stand while the videotape was screened.
Although an emotional Tokarchuk appears to cry at points during
his statement, Read testified that he was "100 per cent
convinced" that Tokarchuk wasn't actually crying. He also
doubted that Savoie was carrying a pipe or a gun on the night
he was shot.
Read will be cross-examined
next week on the interview he did with Tokarchuk.
Tokarchuk murder trial
begins
CBC, Nov 3 2004
WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg courtroom
was packed Wednesday morning as Daniel Tokarchuk faced the jury
at his trial on the charge of second-degree murder in the death
of Trevor Savoie.
Crown attorney Bob Morrison began opening remarks to the six-man,
six-woman jury with a warning that they will hear evidence of
a criminal underworld most people don't want to know exists.
Savoie died after being shot
three times in the River Heights area of Winnipeg in May 2002.
Tokarchuk surrendered to police
five days later. In a statement, he told police he killed Savoie
in self-defence.
Morrison said evidence will
show Tokarchuk's explanation doesn't make sense. He said Tokarchuk
was significantly larger than Savoie, who was unarmed when attacked.
Morrison told the jury Tokarchuk
had a $10,000 to $15,000 debt to Savoie for using drugs he was
supposed to deal on behalf of the ZigZag Crew, a feeder gang
of the Hells Angels.
Savoie was allegedly with Hells
Angels members the night he was killed but Morrison said
none of those gang members will be called as witnesses for obvious
"credibility reasons."
The Crown said jurors may have
heard about the killing of Tokarchuk's brother, Kevin, a year
to the day after Savoie's death. Police believe Kevin Tokarchuk's
shooting was in retaliation for Savoie's killing. However, Morrison
said the brother's death should not play any role in jurors'
judgment of the case.
The trial is scheduled to run
until the end of November before Court of Queen's Bench Justice
Joan McKelvey.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
