Video of rapper Pat Stay being stabbed shown on Day 3 of murder trial

There were gasps and quiet sobs in a Nova Scotia courtroom Wednesday as jurors and witnesses watched a video showing Dartmouth battle rapper Pat Stay being stabbed to death.

The video was from a security camera in a downtown Halifax club from early in the morning of Sept. 4, 2022.

It was played at the second-degree murder trial of Adam Drake.

The video shows two men standing toe-to-toe in the middle of a crowded bar. One of the men makes a stabbing gesture toward the other man, who crumples and then gets punched and stumbles to the floor. He then gets up and walks out of range of the camera.

The man who falls has been identified as Stay.

As the video played, members of the gallery shouted at Drake. "Piece of s--t," one woman shouted. "Hope you burn in hell," another woman added.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Scott Norton ordered the spectators out of the courtroom and told sheriffs not to let one of them return. The judge had earlier warned spectators that he would not tolerate any disruptions in this trial.

Stay made it out of the bar, the Yacht Club Social, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He collapsed on the street outside.

The first senior officer to arrive on the scene that night, Sgt. Perry Astephen, was the first witness to testify at Drake's trial.

He detailed the police response that night, including narrating the security video and other crime scene photos.

Astephen testified he was unhappy with the way things went that night, because people kept milling around, including walking across the blood trail.

One man could be seen on the security video trying to mop up some of the blood.

Astephen ordered officers to clear the bar and secure the scene. They ended up cordoning off the entire city block surrounding the bar.

The video of the stabbing also shows someone sucker-punching Stay as he fell away from the stabbing.

Astephen said he instructed one of the officers to put out a call to apprehend the man they believe had thrown the punch.

In his cross-examination, Drake's lawyer, Michael Lacey, questioned Astephen about the chaos of that night, including how people kept milling about inside the nightclub and ignored orders to clear the area.

Astephen said some of those people would have had blood on their clothes and footwear because they were walking through the evidence.

The last witness to testify Wednesday was one of the first to respond to the call for help.

Const. Joshua Sutton performed first aid on Stay until the ambulance arrived, then rode with him to the hospital.

Sutton said he remained with Stay until he was pronounced dead at around 1:23 a.m.