U of M student told police he saw bus driver 'beating' passenger, murder trial hears

University of Manitoba student Ridwan Hazeez had only arrived in Canada from Nigeria the month before he witnessed the fatal stabbing of a Winnipeg Transit driver.

Hazeez, now 19, testified Thursday at the trial of Brian Kyle Thomas, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Irvine Jubal Fraser.

In the early hours of Feb. 14, 2017, Hazeez was heading home from a friend's residence when he passed Fraser's bus, which was parked on Dafoe Road at the University of Manitoba campus.

"The doors were open. I saw the driver trying to push, trying to get the passenger out of the bus for some reason," Hazeez said in court Thursday.

After crossing Gillson Street — which runs off Dafoe Road and is just west of where the bus was parked — Hazeez turned around to see the driver still struggling with the passenger.

"The driver got the passenger out of the bus, the passenger spat on the driver, and they started fighting," he said.

The driver, who he described as a tall and heavy man, appeared to be trying to get the smaller person under control, Hazeez said. At one point, the driver managed to kick the passenger's feet out from under him, taking him to the ground.

"The bus driver swept him off his feet. There was a struggle. I couldn't see who was hitting who, and I saw the bus driver got up. I saw he was bleeding, and I saw he was holding his neck," Hazeez said.

That's when he first saw a knife in the passenger's hand, he said. After the driver got up, the passenger — who was dressed all in black — ran across the quad and out of sight, Hazeez said.

Crown attorney Paul Girdlestone asked if he ever saw the driver hit the passenger.

"No," Hazeez replied.

Contradicts police statement: defence

Defence lawyer Evan Roitenberg challenged Hazeez over differences between his testimony on Thursday and a statement he gave to police nine days after the incident.

At that point, Hazeez told police the driver was trying to beat up the passenger.

Reading from the transcript of the statement, Roitenberg quoted Hazeez as saying: "He kicked his feet out and then pushed his feet like this, and then tired to push his body in the other direction so that he fell on his back."

"And then what?" the detective interviewing Hazeez asked.

"And the driver starts beating the passenger up," Hazeez replied.

At another point in the transcript, a detective says to Hazeez: "And you say the driver hit him."

Hazeez: "Yeah, hit him."

Responding to Roitenberg, Hazeez said that when he described the driver as beating the passenger up, he only meant that he was trying to "get him together," or get him under control.

"I couldn't even really see who was beating who, because the driver, I was only seeing the driver's back," Hazeez said.

"From what I saw that night, he was just trying to get the passenger together, and I don't think he was trying to hurt the passenger in any way."

Thomas had blood on hands: police

Fraser died from multiple stab wounds on the morning of Feb. 14, 2017. He and Thomas got into a fight when Thomas, who had fallen asleep on Fraser's bus, refused to get off when Fraser reached the end of his route at the U of M.

On Wednesday, court heard from a front-end loader operator who was working at the campus and followed Thomas immediately after the fight with Fraser.

Donald Lemoine testified he saw Thomas staggering as he walked down Dafoe Road, turning down Alumni Lane and across Freedman Crescent, until he lost sight of him as he walked down the bank toward the Red River. Later, Lemoine showed a Winnipeg Police Service canine unit officer where Thomas went down the bank.

Two Winnipeg police officers who arrested Thomas on the frozen river also testified on Thursday. They described treacherous conditions, as mild temperatures had melted much of the ice.

Const. David Crane said Thomas was "unco-operative" when arrested, refusing to walk and lifting both his feet off the ground, forcing the officers to drag and carry him. Crane also noted that Thomas had blood on his hands as he was lying on the ice.

After getting Thomas off the ice, he was placed in the back of Const. John Solarczyk's cruiser and taken to police headquarters. In his assessment of Thomas, Solarczyk noted that Thomas appeared intoxicated.

During cross-examination, defence counsel played a portion of video from inside the interview room at police headquarters. In the video, when Thomas was brought into the room, his speech was slurred. He also asked for blanket and lay down on the floor.

Thomas's trial at Winnipeg's Court of Queen's Bench is expected to wrap up next week.

Chief Justice Glenn Joyal is presiding over the jury trial.