A trial for three men accused of a drug-related murder of a Prince George man just outside city limits heard fuller details Tuesday from a woman who testified she was at the scene of the crime.
Stacey Stevenson fought through tears and sobs as she fielded questions from Crown prosecutor Joseph Temple about what she saw and heard on the night of Jan. 16, 2015.
Brothers Darren and Kurtis Sundman and Sebastian Martin are each accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death Jordan Tayor McLeod.
In previous testimony, Stevenson said McLeod, who was 24 years old at the time of his death, had been supplying the Sundmans with cocaine which they, in turn, sold in part to support their heavy use of methamphetamine.
Tiring of the life she had been leading, Stevenson said she had been in the process of breaking up with Darren Sundman. But on the day in question, she reluctantly hopped into a pickup truck parked outside a friend's home in Vanderhoof when told to do so by her ex-boyfriend.
As she sat in the middle of the back seat with Darren Sundman on her right, Martin on her left, Kurtis Sundman in the driver's seat and McLeod in the passenger seat, Stevenson said she started crying.
"I just had enough of everything," Stevenson said.
She said her outburst prompted Kurtis Sundman to reach behind and hit her, and she settled down.
They pulled some beers out of a case sitting in the rear of the cab and, after finishing them, made their way out onto Highway 16 and headed east.
While they had been in the home, Darren Sundman had told McLeod to unlock his cellphone and when he refused, it was taken from him. As they were driving along, Darren Sundman had found a way to open it, Stevenson told the court.
She said she managed to peer over his shoulder and saw text messages indicating McLeod had been charging the Sundmans more for his product than others had been paying. Darren Sundman was "not very happy," and commented that McLeod "thinks we're f---g stupid," Stevenson said.
He pulled a handgun out of a holster at his side and started to hit McLeod over the head, the court was told. McLeod, in turn, leaned forward to avoid the blows while Kurtis Sundman waved his own handgun around as he drove the truck. Other than to ask once or twice for a cigarette, Martin, meanwhile, sat quietly in the back with a shotgun resting between his knees, Stevenson said.
As they got closer to Prince George, the group started to smoke methamphetamine from a pipe. Stevenson said she started crying again while McLeod promised to clear their debt if the three would let him go.
But the trouble escalated when it appeared accused came across another message on McLeod's phone saying he would cut off the head of Darren Sundman or that of his mother if he didn't pay up. McLeod pleaded that it was someone else who had sent the message, Stevenson said, but they were not convinced.
They passed through the city and, after driving by Prince George Regional Correctional Centre at a high rate of speed, Kurtis Sundman told McLeod he should jump out, "or he knew what was going to happen," Stevenson said.
Shortly after, they turned onto Upper Fraser Road and, when the truck slowed down, McLeod "just opened the door and bailed out." Kurtis Sundman quickly pulled over and the three accused jumped out.
In the process, Martin accidentally set off a can of bear spray that had been sitting on the floor in the back. Stevenson said she crawled into the front passenger seat in search of better air and then put her head between her knees and covered her ears.
But Stevenson said she could still hear two shots from handguns go off and then Martin say "I got him boss," before hearing a shotgun blast.
Until this point in her testimony, Stevenson remained calm but as she recounted what she saw next, began to cry as she answered Temple's questions. She said she turned back to see the three drag McLeod's body, now stripped down to his underwear, from the ditch and lift it into the truck's box.
Kurtis Sundman told her to help, but she refused and stayed in the truck, Stevenson testified. When she looked back into the box, Stevenson said she saw McLeod's "lifeless body" with a shotgun wound to his back and his head turned so she could see his face.
The trial continues Wednesday at the courthouse.
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