Three young men planned to rob a drug dealer. One of them, a Hamilton teen, ended up dead

They were two groups of wayward young men from different ends of Hamilton Mountain - not hardened criminals, but friends dabbling in the kind of low-level crimes seen every day across this city.

Fearful of being robbed, they carried weapons - usually extendable batons, like the ones police use, or knives.

They were high school students or held jobs. One of the groups worked together at a nice Ancaster restaurant.

On a frigid Friday afternoon more than two years ago, they met for a drug deal, as they had done more than once a week in the preceding months.

Except this time, the encounter turned deadly.

On Dec. 7, 2018, they collided over nearly 14 grams of cocaine inside a white Kia Forte parked near Bruleville Park, in a residential area close to Lime Ridge Mall.

By the end of the brief confrontation, the two groups would be divided: one on the side of a dead 17-year-old and the other on the side of the killer - an 18-year-old on his way to work.

Had any number of small things gone differently, the outcome would likely have been too. But instead of walking away from this drug deal, the teen had a knife plunged twice into his chest. The double-edged blade pierced his aorta, an injury that gave him just moments to live. He collapsed, face-first on the pavement of Pinewarbler Drive, dying of massive blood loss.

This is a story about how lives can change - and end - in an instant when impulsive young men make bad decisions. When weapons carried as a show of strength, or for self-defence, are wielded with deadly consequences. This is a case where there are no easy answers, no straight line to justice.

Dawson Farr was charged with manslaughter, assault with a weapon and drug trafficking. This month, on May 17, the now-20-year-old was found not guilty of manslaughter and the assault charge. He was found guilty of trafficking cocaine, something he readily admitted when he took the stand in his own defence.

I find Mr. Farr's actions were reasonable in the circumstance," Ontario Court Justice Amanda Camara said of the manslaughter charge. I find he was acting in self-defence."

That's because the 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, and his 18-year-old friend, Jacob Vogl, pulled weapons on Farr and his friend, 27-year-old Tae Yoon (Dan) Park, inside the car. They were trying to rob Farr in an ill-fated plan that had formed about a week before.

In court Friday, May 21, assistant Crown attorney David King said the prosecution may appeal one aspect of the ruling. The paperwork has gone to Hamilton's head Crown for consideration.

During the trial, court heard from the two groups of friends, each testifying not just about what happened that day, but their lives at the time.

Farr dropped out of school after Grade 11 at Westmount Secondary School. Things weren't great at home and he moved out in 2018, first in with a friend and then by November, into his grandma's vacant bungalow on Swallow Crescent, a five-minute walk from the stabbing scene. Three other guys moved in, a group of friends who worked at Cavallo Nero, an Italian restaurant in Ancaster where Farr washed dishes.

Farr admits he started selling cocaine to people he knew or those introduced through acquaintances earlier that year. He needed the money. That's why Joseph Hautamaki said he transferred his cocaine-selling business to his good friend.

The cocaine selling was a side hustle, a way to make a few extra bucks. Farr would buy cocaine from Hautamaki's guy and then resell it, anywhere from half a gram for $50 to a ball (3.5 grams) for $300. Hautamaki handed over his clients too, including the 17-year-old victim and his friend Vogl.

We were borderline buddy-buddy," Hautamaki said of his relationship with the victim and Vogl. So what happened that December afternoon shocked him. He felt responsible" because he made the introduction.

Hautamaki, a friend since high school, felt badly about the problems Farr was having at home. He told Farr he could move in with his family, but the offer was premature because he had not asked his parents, who said no. So instead, he agreed to move in to help with rent money.

Hautamaki said he also gave Farr his three-inch silver knife.

Farr said he would often fiddle with the knife, opening and closing it because of his ADHD. He always carried it, not because he was selling drugs, but because Hamilton is a pretty rough city."

It wasn't just Farr who carried a weapon. When police raided the house on Swallow, they found other weapons, including an extendable baton in a backpack. Hautamaki said he always carried bear spray or an extendable baton, known by the brand name ASP.

Even if he was out walking his dog in his neighbourhood, he always had one to make sure he could defend himself."

Defence attorney Jeff Manishen asked all the witnesses about the fact they carried weapons. Because Hamilton is a dangerous city? Yes, they all agreed.

On the afternoon of Dec. 7, Farr carried that silver knife in his side bag, along with nearly 14 grams of cocaine, as Hautamaki drove him and Park to the edge of Bruleville Park. It was the biggest sale he had ever made, worth $800 to $850. Hautamaki waited, parking his car on Bobolink Road.

Farr was going to meet the 17-year-old and Vogl.

Farr thought they were decent guys."

But the 17-year-old and his buddies thought differently. He, Vogl and their friend, Ayden Murphy, thought Farr didn't really know what he was doing. That he would be an easy target for robbery. Shortly before his death, the victim told his 15-year-old girlfriend that Farr was waste yute" or a loser."

Like Farr, the 17-year-old also wasn't living at home, but with another friend. He did occasional work at a special events business maybe once a week. He and Vogl were frequently consuming cocaine, regularly buying from Farr.

As they formed a plan to rob Farr, the three friends - the victim, Vogl and Murphy - shared the idea with others. Court heard the victim even told the mom of the friend he was living with.

Did anyone try to talk them out of the dangerous plan? It appears not.

Vogl told court he was driven by a desire to consume cocaine. But the victim's girlfriend testified her boyfriend owed money. He thought he could resell his share, about 4.6 grams, for maybe $500.

Nothing bad is going to happen right?" she texted him.

As long as he don't resist, we won't have to (thump) him," the victim replied.

When a friend texted her later asking if they could hang out that Friday night, she casually replied they couldn't because her boyfriend was going to rob someone.

When her boyfriend was killed, the teen told her parents and they went straight to police.

Originally, the plan had been to use only the baton in the car, but a day before, the boys drove to Dunnville to buy a metal BB gun from another friend. They spray-painted it black to make it look more real.

According to Vogl and Murphy, the idea was to bring the BB gun, along with an ASP baton and a knife, but not use them.

This was the plan: Vogl would drive his mom's car, the 17-year-old would be in the front passenger seat. They would park at the end of Pinewarbler near the entrance to Bruleville Park. It's a spot they'd met Farr before to buy drugs because it's close to Farr's house.

They didn't think Farr would recognize Murphy, so he would hide in the trees. Farr would get in the back seat of the car and hand over the drugs, but instead of paying, the victim and Vogl would throw their seats back and pin him. The child locks would be engaged on the back doors, so Farr would be trapped. That's when Murphy was to run over, open the back door and pull Farr out, leaving the friends to drive off with the drugs.

They thought it would be easy, the friends said in court.

But it was not.

That Friday afternoon, as Farr walked across Bruleville Park, he was not alone. He brought his then-27-year-old friend and roommate Park with him.

Park testified he didn't think much about being invited along. Farr said he thought he could introduce Park to the guys, and Park could maybe sell some of his leftover MDMA.

King said Park came as backup, over fear something might go wrong on his biggest cocaine sale. But both Farr and Park denied this and Justice Camara believed that they were caught by surprise. Farr would never have gone, never brought Park - who was not armed - with him had he suspected danger.

Exactly what happened in those minutes inside the car depends on who is telling the story. Camara ruled that Vogl and Murphy were not credible witnesses.

In the aftermath of the stabbing, they repeatedly lied to police to minimize their own role. Vogl initially said they were just trying to buy marijuana when they were attacked.

Vogl was in the driver's seat and the victim was in the front passenger seat. Farr got in behind the driver, and Park behind the front passenger. They exchanged very brief greetings, Farr was asked about the drugs and handed them over. He asked about the money.

Farr and Park were quickly trapped by the pair in the front seat who flung back their seats. Park said he had a gun pointed at him, but he wasn't sure who held it. He flailed" and knocked the gun to the ground. When he reached down to grab it, he also found a baton. He ran from the car carrying both weapons.

Farr said he saw Vogl point the gun at Park and they struggled for control. He looked down to pull his knife from his bag, and by the time he looked up, he said the victim had the baton raised. Farr was worried the baton would be used on Park, who would lose control of the gun.

I assumed we'd get shot," Farr said.

At the time, he didn't know the gun was a just a BB gun. He didn't know the knife in his hand was even more dangerous.

Farr could not have known the knife was the deadliest weapon in the car," Camara said.

And in a split second everything changed.

The next thing I remember, the knife was in his chest and we both just froze there," Farr said. He and the victim just stared at each other in shock.

Farr said he can't remember actually stabbing him, or pulling the knife out; some details are fuzzy, disjointed, like photos that only capture some moments of the events.

Camara found the pair had no reasonable option to try to talk their way out of the scenario in the confined space of the car, with weapons drawn. Child locks had been engaged on the back doors, making escape difficult.

Neither Murphy nor Hautamaki saw the stabbing. They ran toward the commotion. Murphy had a knife is his pocket, but it wasn't used.

In the aftermath, Murphy and Vogl loaded their friend into the back of the car and, in a panic, drove him to get help. But soon, realizing how serious the situation was, they stopped in a McDonald's parking lot near Lime Ridge Mall where an off-duty firefighter and a former military paramedic tried to help them. It was too late. When emergency services arrived, the 17-year-old was dead.

Meanwhile, Farr, Park and Hautamaki ran back to Hautamaki's car. Park still had the baton and the BB gun, which they decided to keep as evidence" of the robbery. They drove around for a bit, before dropping Park back off at the house on Swallow; Hautamaki and Farr went to work at Cavallo Nero.

They all carried on with their night as planned.

At work, they changed and Hautamaki took the knife, telling Farr he would take care of it. He threw it out in a garbage can at Randall Park behind his old elementary school - Lincoln Alexander School - but later led police to retrieve it.

Another friend, Patrick Bommarito, who also worked with them but didn't live in the house on Swallow, drove Park to the Wilson Street East restaurant. He went to work, while Park borrowed his car to go to St. Catharines to shoot a music video.

That evening, news broke that the 17-year-old stabbing victim had died. It was a homicide investigation.

Security camera footage from outside the restaurant showed Park returning later. Bommarito, Park and Farr left together. They made two stops that night, the first at a friend of Park's to get advice on a lawyer. Then they took Farr to another friend of Park's in the St. Catharines area where Farr would stay that night. Farr was getting threatening text messages and was worried for his safety. It's not clear who sent those threatening messages.

The next day Park and Bommarito drove Farr to meet his parents at a Tim Hortons near the Hamilton Mountain police station. His parents took him, along with the BB gun, to turn himself in. The baton was found in the back of Hautamaki's car. The yellow bag of drugs was found under the front passenger seat in Vogl's car.

Park was charged with manslaughter and assault with a weapon soon after. His trial was supposed to begin May 31, however that was adjourned. Justice Camara granted the adjournment Friday to allow the Crown to assess whether it will appeal the Farr verdict.

Throughout Farr's trial, dozens of the victim's family attended court either in person, or over Zoom, perhaps looking for answers and justice. At times there were outbursts as emotions ran high.

At the conclusion of homicide trials, judges often remark that no outcome can bring back the person killed. No conviction, no sentence can undo what is lost. Perhaps this is most true when a child is killed over a few hundred dollars' worth of cocaine.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com