The trial of a man accused of killing a Dartmouth cab driver has heard a chilling account of what happened from a man who says he was there.
Security was tight at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax and great lengths were taken to protect the Crown’s key witness, 21-year-old Wayne MacEvoy.
MacEvoy took the stand today to testify against his cousin, 22-year-old Chaze Lamar Thompson of Dartmouth.
He told jurors he was sitting beside cab driver Sergei Kostin when he was shot and killed in January 2009.
Kostin, a 40-year-old native of Ukraine, worked for Bob’s Taxi in Dartmouth.
MacEvoy said he and Thompson had called for a taxi from a Dartmouth convenience store on Jan. 17, 2009.
He told the court he believed they were calling a cab to take them directly to a local high school for a basketball tournament and that he didn’t know why his cousin instead directed the driver to Johnston Road.
He said the cab driver pulled over, asked for his fare, and then a shot was fired from the backseat of the vehicle.
MacEvoy told the jury he saw the barrel of the gun retreat into the backseat and that Thompson ordered him to get out and drive the taxi. According to his testimony, Kostin’s body was then moved to the backseat so MacEvoy could sit in the driver’s seat.
MacEvoy said his cousin then ordered him to stop on Upper Governor Road in North Preston, where they dragged Kostin’s body into the woods, and then drove the car into the woods in another area.
He also testified he saw Thompson cleaning the gun at a friend’s home.
Kostin’s cab was found burned out in North Preston a few days after he disappeared, although his body wasn’t recovered until April, about a kilometre away from the car.
Thompson was charged with first-degree murder in January 2010, a year after Kostin’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is scheduled to stand trial over the next five weeks.
Cross-examination of the witness is expected Tuesday.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw
