Accused admits driving SUV
But man in fatal gas-and-dash thought he was dragging a pylon
Max Tutiven killed Jayesh Prajapati while committing a “gas-and-dash” theft, but he did not intend to hurt anyone, a jury heard Tuesday, as Tutiven took the stand in his second-degree murder trial.
During his testimony, Tutiven admitted to driving the SUV that hit Prajapati and dragged him for 78 metres on the night of Sept. 15, 2012.
He admitted to stealing gas from the Shell station where Prajapati worked.
But, Tutiven testified, he never saw Prajapati approach his SUV and, when he heard something being dragged under his vehicle, he assumed it was a road pylon.
Prajapati was working in the kiosk of a Shell station near Eglinton Ave. W. and Allen Rd. when he saw the driver of a silver SUV pulling away from the pump without paying for $112.85 worth of gas, the Crown has said during the weeklong trial.
Prajapati, a husband and father, ran out to try to stop the driver from getting away, but was hit by the SUV and dragged to his death.
Tutiven, 44, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of second-degree murder, which requires that the accused person intended to kill their victim.
On Tuesday, Tutiven laid out his version of the events leading to Prajapati’s death, as Prajapati’s wife listened with the help of an interpreter from her seat in the centre of the courtroom, and Tutiven’s mother looked on.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment five years,” Tutiven said, composing his thoughts early in his testimony.
He said he pulled up to the Shell station intending to steal gas, as he had done every three to four days, at various gas stations, since he was 16 years old.
After filling his SUV’s tank and two jerry cans, he looked up to see Prajapati in the gas station kiosk serving customers and decided it was safe to drive off without being caught.
But, when Tutiven tried to pull out, there was a black car parked at the pump in front of him, blocking his path, he told the court. Tutiven reversed his SUV and tried to drive around the black car, turning to look out his driver’s side window so he could make sure his left bumper hadn’t hit the other vehicle.
At no time did he see Prajapati, Tutiven said.
He thought he could hear someone yell, “Stop, stop,” but assumed it was the attendant calling through a window in the kiosk, he said.
As Tutiven pulled out of the gas station and onto Roselawn Ave., he heard a dragging sound under his car and assumed it was a pylon.
Tutiven, who lived in Montreal but made frequent visits to his hometown of Toronto, then drove straight back to the room he had rented for the weekend in North York.
Hours later, he was woken up by a call from his father, who told him police had come by looking for him, but did not tell him why.
Tutiven only learned someone had been killed, and that he was a suspect, while at a friend’s house in Kingston, Ont., two days later, he testified. He abandoned the SUV and returned by bus to Montreal where he remained until his arrest in 2015.
“There (was) no point in me turning myself in, there is no benefit of me turning myself in . . . except that I spend more time in jail,” he testified.
Tutiven has about 40 criminal convictions to his name, for such crimes as assault, car theft and possession of stolen property, the court heard.
His main source of income at the time involved defrauding cellphone companies to resell used phones, he said. He would also occasionally work with friends to steal cars from dealerships or break into warehouses to rob them, he testified.
During cross-examination Tuesday, Crown attorney Joseph Callaghan argued Tutiven’s testimony could simply be a demonstration of his criminal ability to fool people.
“You are quite successful at lying, deceiving, defrauding to get your way,” Callaghan said. “You’re trying to make this jury your next sucker.”
Tutiven disagreed, saying his crimes were not an indication that he is untruthful. “Does stealing a car make me dishonest? Does it make me a liar?”