WARNING: This story includes graphic details and may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.
A B.C. jury heard the accounting of a brutal 2017 gangland killing in graphic detail on Wednesday, as the alleged accomplice of an accused contract killer continued his testimony.
But the witness, whose identity is covered by a publication ban and has been referred to as “Person X,” has testified he was hired along with accused murderer Brandon Teixeira to kill Nicolas Khabra in October 2017.
Teixeira has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm in the case.
Earlier this week, Person X testified he had gone to the meeting with Khabra to participate in the killing but “froze” at the crucial moment, watching Teixeira pull a gun from his own waistband and shoot the victim.
On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Joe Bellows had the witness take the jury through the killing in chilling detail.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Person X testified that Teixeira fired point blank — the gun just 15 to 20 cm from Khabra — before the victim collapsed in the grass.
“He looked panicked, he struggled a little bit getting it (the gun) out,” he testified.
“He was at his feet shooting down on him … (Khabra) was kicking his legs up towards Brandon and the gun,” he added, telling the court Teixeira shot four or five times.
Person X told the court he remained sitting in the Jeep he and Teixeria had brought to the meeting and had a clear view of the attack.
As to why he didn’t participate in the killing?
“I was in shock. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and I’ve never seen anything like that and I just couldn’t really move,” he testified.
Person X then described a chaotic and violent sequence.
The car Khabra had been in sped off. Teixeira’s gun jammed, so he used it to pistol-whip Khabra in the head. Khabra began to run, so Teixeira grabbed Person X’s gun and shot Khabra again before that gun jammed too. Moments later Khabra reached the front door of a house, where Teixeira physically attacked him, he testified.
“(Teixeira) got on top of him … it looked like he was doing punching motions, head and neck area, around five,” Person X testified.
“He (Teixeira) said he had stabbed him … He said, ‘Hopefully we still get paid, but I stabbed him so many times, hopefully, he’s along the lines of retarded and we still get paid.’”
Khabra died from his injuries.
Last month, the Crown told the court that Person X and Teixeira were paid $160,000 for the killing.
The jury has also heard that Person X cut deals with both the RCMP and the Crown.
His agreement to work as a police informant netted him half a million dollars, while his deal with prosecutors saw him plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, for which he served a five-year sentence.
The high-security trial is expected to last six to eight months.
— with files from Rumina Daya