DNA evidence introduced at 2014 Boxing Day murder trial

A former cab driver says two men he picked up on Morrison Street in Niagara Falls during the early morning hours of Boxing Day 2014 smelled of smoke, a jury heard Wednesday.

When he questioned them about it, Valerian Evtodi said they told him they had been burning something in a backyard shed.

Brad MacGarvie, 26, Thomas Nagy, 26, and Duran Wilson, 30, all of Niagara Falls, are on trial for first-degree murder in Superior Court of Justice in Welland in connection with the death of Alex Fraser. The three men have pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Fraser, a father of two, vanished without a trace on Boxing Day 2014 after his burning car was discovered along the Niagara Parkway in Fort Erie.

The 49-year-old’s body was discovered two months later floating in the water near the Sir Adam Beck Generation Station. His head was bound with duct tape, and his wrists and ankles were tied by cable ties.

Evtodi on Wednesday testified he picked up two men at about 3:45 a.m. on Boxing Day and drove them from Morrison Street to a residence on Longhurst Avenue.

With the exception of the smoke odour, he said he didn’t notice anything unusual about the pair but did say both men had tattoos.

Also on Wednesday, James Sloots, a biologist with the Centre of Forensic Sciences, took the jury through the process of how DNA is collected and analyzed, and what he found when he examined several items regarding the Fraser case.

He testified Fraser could not be excluded as the source of DNA found on a cigarette butt recovered near where the vehicle was set on fire. Genetic material from another source was also located on the cigarette but was not suitable for testing.

“Sometimes there’s too little DNA in samples for us to pursue,” he said.

In his opening address in early July, the Crown prosecutor told the jury the evidence would show Fraser was lured to his death after one of the defendants had heard he had planned to get several people to beat him up in retaliation for an earlier assault.

Fraser grew up in Hamilton and had lived in Niagara Falls for a number of years.

He worked as an unlicensed cab driver.

The trial, before Judge Robert Reid, continues today.