‘I assumed we’d get shot’: Accused testifies at Hamilton manslaughter trial
Dawson Farr says he doesn't remember fatally stabbing a 17-year-old Hamilton boy inside a parked car more than two years ago, but accepts he wielded the knife in panic when a gun and extendable baton were pulled on him and a friend during a drug deal.
The next thing I remember the knife was in his chest and we both just froze there," Farr said Tuesday in court, where he testified the stabbing was in self-defence.
Farr and the victim just stared at each other for what felt like 10 seconds, but must have been shorter, he said. He doesn't remember pulling the knife out, before getting out of the car and running.
I don't have a smooth memory ... sort of like photos, of different stages of it," Farr said of the events of Dec. 7, 2018.
The now 20-year-old is on trial for manslaughter in the stabbing death of the 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of a publication ban. Farr is also charged with assault with a weapon and drug trafficking.
At the time of the stabbing, Farr was 18 and had recently moved into a house on Swallow Crescent with three friends, including Tae Yoon (Dan) Park, Farr's co-accused who is set to stand trial separately. They all worked at an Ancaster restaurant.
Farr, who finished Grade 11 at Westmount Secondary School, had started selling cocaine earlier that year, but only to people he knew or those introduced through friends, he said. Friend Joseph Hautamaki, one of the roommates, introduced Farr to the 17-year-old victim and his friend, Jacob Vogl.
Since the summer before the stabbing, Farr said he had been selling them cocaine at least once a week. They seemed like good guys, Farr said, adding that he never would have met them if he felt in danger.
He usually sold between half a gram ($50) up to 3.5 grams (about $300). But that day Farr was selling the biggest amount he had ever sold - 14 grams - for $800 or $850.
He testified that he was stressed and running late. He had asked Park to get him a cutting agent for the cocaine and had to be at work for 5 p.m. He, Park and Hautamaki left the house after 4 p.m.
Hautamaki, scheduled to work the same shift, dropped his two friends off on Bobolink Road, near Bruleville Park and waited for them. Farr said he invited Park to come because he knew Park had some MDMA and thought Vogl or the victim might know someone who wanted to buy it.
Farr carried a side bag, holding the drugs and a sharp silver knife, which he testified he always carried for protection.
What he didn't know is that the teen victim, Vogl and their friend Ayden Murphy had planned to rob Farr. Court has heard they thought Farr would come alone and would be an easy target.
After walking through the park, Farr said he saw the familiar Kia Forte with Vogl in the driver's seat and the victim in the front passenger's seat. They had met there on Pinewarbler Drive before. Farr and Park got in, with Farr behind Vogl and Park behind the 17-year-old.
They exchanged greetings and Farr introduced Park. The guys in the front asked about the drugs and Farr asked about the money, before handing the cocaine over to the 17-year-old, he said.
That's when Farr said he saw someone coming and warned the victim to put down the drugs. The guy walking toward the car was actually Murphy, whose role in the robbery was supposed to be pulling Farr out of the car. But that's not what happened.
Farr said Vogl pointed what looked like a handgun at Park, who tried to grab the gun. Farr said he looked down to grab the knife from his bag and when he looked up the 17-year-old victim was turned, holding up a baton. In that second, Farr said he worried if Park was hit with the baton, he'd lose control of the gun and they'd be shot.
On cross-examination, assistant Crown David King suggested it was the 17-year-old who had the gun, that Farr stabbed Vogl first (he suffered minor injuries) and that the 17-year-old was unarmed, having lost the BB gun to Park, by the time he was stabbed. He also questioned why Farr didn't try to get out of the car.
Farr denied all of this, saying he doesn't know how Vogl was hurt and lost sight of the gun after grabbing his knife.
I assumed we'd get shot, that we'd die," Farr said.
After the stabbing, Farr said he struggled with the lock, but managed to get out. As he ran away he saw the 17-year-old fall onto the hood of the car and then collapse on the ground.
He and Park ran back to Hautamaki's car, where he said he was hyperventilating. Park had the BB gun and the baton. They drove around for a bit, before dropping Park back at the house. Hautamaki drove to work, where Farr said he changed. He gave Hautamaki his clothes and the knife. Hautamaki previously testified that he threw the knife away, but later led police back to retrieve it.
Farr kept the BB gun, wrapped in a plastic bag, as evidence. He stayed at a friend of Park's out of town that night, but returned the next day, met his parents at a Tim Hortons, and turned himself in to police at the Mountain station with the BB gun.
On cross-examination, King pressed Farr as to why he would keep the BB gun, but not take care to preserve other evidence including the knife, his clothes, bag or phone.
You were just trying to preserve the evidence that you thought would help you?" King asked.
That's fair," replied Farr.
The judge-alone trial resumes April 19 with closing submissions.
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com