The first-degree murder trial of Brandon Nathan Teixeira continued in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster Tuesday.
Teixeira is the accused in the South Surrey killing of Nicholas Khabra, 28, who was found by police with fatal gunshot wounds in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2017. Dressed all in black, with a full beard and glasses, Teixeira 香蕉视频直播� who was arrested in Oroville, Calif. in December of 2019 after several warnings, public appeals and manhunts 香蕉视频直播� sat silently in the courtroom during the continued testimony of Person A, the woman who was with Khabra when he was killed.
Reza Mansoori-Dara, Teixeira's defence counsel, resumed his cross-examination of Person A, focusing on her testimony of the shooting, and the timeline of how events unfolded. Person A was also shot by the same person who killed Khabra, injuring both of her legs, before she drove away from the scene.
Teixeira is pleading not guilty to three charges: first-degree murder of Nicholas Khabra, attempted murder of a female (Person A) shot the same day, and discharging a firearm.
Mansoori-Dara asked Person A about how many people were at the shooting, what she might have heard from friends or family, and an article she was shown about the incident.
Person A testified that she couldn't remember when she saw the article or what media agency wrote it, or who showed it to her, but agreed she thought there was only one person in the suspect vehicle the night of the shooting.
"Until you read this article, you agree with me that you were always left with the impression that there was only one person in the vehicle ... correct?" defence counsel asked.
"Yes," Person A agreed.
Earlier in the trial, a paid informant called 'Person X' took the stand, having garnered a deal with RCMP; Crown counsel said Teixeira and Person X were paid $160,000 to kill Khabra, due to the belief that Khabra had set up Teixeira days earlier in a drive-by shooting.
Mansoori-Dara questioned Person A about the number of people at the scene, what race she thought the shooter was, as she testified to hearing someone speak a greeting in Punjabi, and also, about the damage to her vehicle, before showing videos of what appeared to be Person A's vehicle at different locations in the Crescent Beach area.
Person A testified she estimated the timeframe of her parking her vehicle to the shooting to be about 40 to 45 minutes, but Mansoori-Dara showed video of the suspected shooter's vehicle entering the area at 1:52 a.m., and noting Person A's 911 call was placed at 2:10 a.m.
"The time frame that you provided doesn't work. It's clearly incorrect based on the numbers we have," he said, noting the time stamp on the video shows it was likely closer to an 18-minute timeframe than 40 or 45 minutes.
"At that time, it felt like whatever the time I've given," Person A responded. "At that time, I was sure that it was around that timeframe."
"Assuming the time stamps are correct, the 45-minute period is wrong, correct?" Mansoori-Dara persisted.
"Yes," Person A responded. "Yes 香蕉视频直播� it just felt like 40 minutes."
He then focused his questions on the South Surrey neighbourhood 香蕉视频直播� near the 14300-block of Crescent Road 香蕉视频直播� where the shooting took place, identifying where Person A said the shooting happened, where the cars were parked, how she left the area, and her recollection of the houses and porch lights in the neighbourhood.
Mansoori-Dara questioned Person A's recollection of where Khabra and the shooter were in relation to her parked vehicle.
"When you testified last time, you said about 20 feet," he noted.
"I was, from what I can recall, that's what I had thought, but looking at (the photos), that's, it's not that big of a space ...so my recollection of the actual length, I'm not too sure of, because of me not knowing the metres and feet difference," Person A said.
"Then you feel comfortable resigning from that measurement, Because it's not accurate, correct?" Mansoori-Dara asked.
"That is correct," Person A answered.
He asked her about whether the passenger side window was up or down at the time of the shooting, and if she recalled driving away after the shooting.
"You said that you could not see Nick because he was behind the door," Mansoori-Dara stated, but Person A countered with, "No, I said that he might have been on the ground by then. I couldn't see him. I just remembered pushing (the push start button) to start and driving," Person A said.
Defence counsel continued to question Person A on more aspects of the night of the shooting, confirming that Person A couldn't remember what Khabra was wearing, before asking her questions about his job. Khabra had told Person A that he worked as a longshoreman (in addition to his fireworks business), but Person A confirmed she never drove him to where he said he worked as a longshoreman.
After Mansoori-Dara questioned her about a series of text messages involving a friend picking up "a bag" at a gas station at 11:43 p.m. on the night of Oct. 22, Person A confirmed she had been at more than one gas station on the evening/early morning when the shooting happened 香蕉视频直播� the first, without Khabra.
"Are you telling us you actually went to two gas stations, one at Petro Canada, and then some other gas station?" he queried.
"Yes," she replied.
Mansoori-Dara asked Person A more about showing up at Khabra's house that night, as well as who else might have been in the home, before court adjourned for the day.
