Video Capturing Bar Murder Shown To Toronto Jury
Posted February 4, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Despite the fact it’s very grainy and hard to see, it is still a stunning video. That’s because it shows a man being murdered in cold blood.
It came from the security system of Whisper’s Nightclub at Rogers and Weston Rd. just after Canada Day 2006. And it was shown in a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday, as lawyers for the province try to prove that Peter Johnson is the man who fired that lethal weapon.
The Crown alleges Johnson had a grudge to settle with Albert Grant, the bar’s bouncer, after he demanded his $10 cover charge back. Grant got his unruly patron in a headlock and bodily dragged him out of the building. But when the security agent finally let go, a muzzle flash is seen. A bullet that was apparently meant for the enforcer hit Jeffery Lewis instead.
He was trying to leave the bar when the bullet struck him in the head. He had nothing to do with the dispute but died of his injuries. Johnson was charged with that killing and attempting to shoot two others. He’s pleaded innocent to second degree murder.
The jury sat horrified watching the brief video. The sight of the apparent murder was appalling enough. But the pictures told another story that left the panel grimacing in disgust. The reason? The video seems to show four other people also pulling out guns before and after the shooting.
In addition, the woman who held the proceeds from the night had her purse stolen in the melee and the promoter is caught on tape flying into a rage and smashing all the stereo equipment after his money was taken.
The Crown believes it can prove the suspect’s saliva wound up on Grant’s jacket. They contend no one else was close enough to have left the sample there and that it was deposited when Johnson was caught in the headlock.
The video shows the person closest to Grant pulling out the gun, and the inference is that makes Johnson the only one who could have wielded that weapon that night.
