MANDEL: The defense is over in the Toronto police killer's trial

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A dazed Umar Zamir knelt and was handcuffed as his BMW exited the garage, its side panel covered in the blood of a Toronto police officer.

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It was minutes after he ran from Det.-Const. Jeff Northrup, who was investigating the stabbing with his colleagues while in plainclothes and according to the last witness, both police officers, apparently offered an explanation that the accountant would repeat at his murder trial three years later. .

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“He said the male and female were banging on the window and the door,” said Det.-Const. Ryan D'Souza recalled. “The man also said he was scared, tried to run away and said he didn't know they were police.”

Zamir, 34, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the July 2, 2021, shooting death of a 55-year-old officer in a parking lot below Nathan Phillips Square.

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In emotional testimony this week, the father-of-three apologized to Northrup's family but said he feared his pregnant wife and baby had been lured by robbers, blocking his path in a dark van “out of nowhere” when two strangers rammed his car and demanded he get out. .

He wanted to get away as quickly as possible and had no idea he was going to hit anyone, he told the jury.

Also, D'Souza, of Northrup's 52nd Division Major Crimes Unit, said he responded to an emergency call at about 12:20 a.m., wearing a bulletproof vest marked “Police” and hurrying toward the underground parking lot.

He saw two of his colleagues standing in front of an unidentified police minivan with front end damage and airbags deployed. Right in front of them was a black BMW sedan with two open doors. Nearby, a pregnant woman was holding a young child in her arms and “crying loudly”.

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The man, who was kneeling on the ground, had a “glazed look on his face,” D'Souza said, as if he was “in a state of shock.”

D'Souza asked Det. What happened to Charnille Pace and Tony Correa and they told him that Northrup was overrun.

“Run or hit?” he asked.

“No, he ran and that's bad,” D'Souza recalled them telling him.

After Pace hit Northrup, he and Correa followed, rear-ended the BMW and took Zamir into custody, Pace said. After handcuffing him, Pace said to him: “Stand up. You just ran over a cop.”

Summoned in court on Friday, Pais asked what Zamir had told him.

“He said, 'We didn't know who you were,' or 'We didn't know you were a cop,'” Pais recalled.

Noticing blood and flesh on the lower panel under the driver's door, the officer told Zamir, “That's my partner, you just ran over. You just ran over a cop.”

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In response, he said the driver: “You know there was a stabbing in the area before; we were scared.”

Pais said he punched Zamir in the face while he was still on his feet, but defense attorney Nader Hasan disputed the timeline he gave.

Meanwhile, D'Souza said Pais took over the training of Zamir after being called up. Then he started asking her what happened.

“He said he had recently moved to the country,” D'Souza said, citing notes he made a month after the incident. “He also said he knew there had been a stabbing and said he saw a lot of police cars and wanted to leave.”

“Then he saw a black van and said there was a man and a woman getting out,” recalled D'Souza, who was the last witness for the defense. “He said he saw a man approach his car and reach into his pocket, but again said he didn't know they were police. He said if he knew they were the police, he wouldn't have gone.”

When all the evidence is ready, the jury was told it would return on Tuesday to hear final arguments.

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