Animosity towards South Asian people, prepayment request fuelled fatal stabbing of Winnipeg taxi driver, Crown argues
CTV
A Winnipeg man accused of fatally stabbing a Duffy’s taxi driver more than two years ago was angry about being asked to prepay for his cab ride and had recently stopped taking medication for bipolar disorder, the Crown argued on the opening day of his trial in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.
A Winnipeg man accused of fatally stabbing a Duffy’s taxi driver more than two years ago was angry about being asked to prepay for his cab ride and had recently stopped taking medication for bipolar disorder, the Crown argued on the opening day of his trial in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench.
Okoth Obeing, 22, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the homicide of Balvir Toor, 44, in the early morning hours of March 19, 2020.
Members of Toor’s family including his wife, two daughters, son, and nephew sat in the front row of the gallery as the trial got underway while family members of Obeing sat on the opposite side of a small courtroom.
Crown attorney Chantal Boutin told the court a man entered the cab being driven by Toor shortly after 5 a.m.
“Minutes later that same man leaned over…reached around the plastic shield meant to protect the driver and stabbed Mr. Toor repeatedly,” Boutin told Justice Joan McKelvey. “The Crown’s theory is that the killing was fuelled by Mr. Obeing’s animus, aggression and perceived disrespect of him by the victim, Mr. Toor.”
Court heard members of the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) were called to the 500 block of Burrows Avenue, after a passerby came upon a cab on the street with its emergency lights flashing.
Boutin told the court Obeing disclosed to officers with the WPS’s homicide unit during a videotaped interview that he had feelings of animosity towards South Asian people because of negative interactions growing up.
