A cellphone recovered from the victim of a fatal shooting showed text messages between the victim and his alleged killer, the jury for a first-degree murder trial heard Wednesday at Prince George courthouse.
Anthony Robert Willier is accused of murdering Nathan Alcide Marshall, who was found shot to death in front of his Hemlock Street home during the morning of Feb. 17, 2010.
Prince George RCMP Const. Brian Merriman told the court Marshall's cellphone contained "quite a few" text message exchanges between Marshall and "Annie W. New" from about 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on the day of Marshall's death. Willier went by the nickname Annie, the court heard in earlier testimony.
Merriman said the discussion appeared to be about an outstanding debt, which the constable presumed was owed to Marshall, and an arrangement to meet at Marshall's home. Mention was also made of a shotgun, Merriman noted. In earlier testimony, the court was told Willier was offering to sell a gun to Marshall.
Merriman also noted contact numbers for Annie W. and an Annie W. New were found on the cellphone.
In testimony earlier this week, Michael Sanche told the court he was with Willier at the time of the shooting, saying Willer drove to the end of Marshall's driveway in a sport utility vehicle, pulled a gun out from under his seat and started firing.
Sanche said he went to police five days later and gave a statement because he was afraid for his life.
Willier was arrested on March 1, 2010, the court heard, a dozen days after Marshall's death and seven days after Sanche gave his statement, when RCMP received a tip that he was walking towards a home at 2281 Norwood St. carrying a nine-millimetre pistol and a bullet proof vest.
Willier gave himself up without a struggle after an RCMP emergency response team trained in high-risk arrests, surrounded the home. Police were originally denied access to the home but set up a surveillance and kept track of Willier's Facebook where he posted he was at the address, arresting officer Luke Rioux testified.
Rioux said when he was first told he was charged with Marshall's murder, Willier didn't respond initially but then asked to repeat the reason for his arrest and gave an expression of shock.
Willier was wearing a sleeveless shirt and pants when he came out, Rioux testified, and also told the court as far as he knows no gun was recovered, although later testimony indicated a set of "soft armour" was found during a subsequent search of the home.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Keith Aartsen said the casings found at the scene of Marshall's death were .45 calibre, not nine-millimetre.
The jury also heard from an undercover officer - a court-ordered publication ban protects his identity - who was placed in Willier's cell at the Prince George RCMP detachment later that day.
Pretending to be another prisoner, the officer stayed in the cell for around 28 hours as a "passive observer" listening to anything Willier would say.
Willier was talkative during that time and mentioned he smoked some speed prior to the arrest but maintained he had no knowledge of Marshall's death. The officer said Willier told him police believe Willier had given a person named Dax a .45 calibre pistol to get rid of.
"Mr. Willier indicated that he did not think Dax would testify as Dax was an avid drug user and he'd be an unreliable witness and also that Dax worked with him and that Dax was afraid of him," the officer said.
The trial continues today.
