Witness has foggy memory of murders, jury hears
Accused is charged with killing two people outside an LCBO in 2016
It was clear to anyone in the courtroom that Chad Pillay did not want to be sitting in the witness box.
He glowered and grumbled monosyllabic answers and had difficulty remembering — or flat-out denied — some of what he had previously told police about the night his good friend Joseph Anzolona, 26, and Cynthia Mullapud i, 24, were gunned down outside an LCBO at Victoria Park Ave. and Ellesmere Rd.
“How do you feel about being here?” Crown attorney Rob Fried asked the 26-year-old.
“I don’t, to be honest with you, I don’t feel like being here.” But he had no choice. He was under subpoena, the jury heard.
Pillay was testifying at the trial of Harris Nnane, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the brazen shooting in a liquor store parking lot on April 29, 2016, around 9:45 p.m. Mullapudi was a Markham student and friend of the woman Pillay was dating and had just met him and Anzolona that evening. The foursome was headed to a party when they stopped at the LCBO, the jury has heard.
Pillay was driving a silver SUV and pulled it up outside the outlet, so the vehicle faced the west windows. Anzolona and the other woman went inside to buy some booze, while Pillay stayed put behind the wheel and Mullapudi in the rear passenger seat.
Shortly after they entered the store, surveillance video captured the accused and another man also arriving at the outlet, where they approached Anzolona. Nnane left the store about a minute later without buying anything.
While Mullapudi’s friend was at the cash paying for the liquor, Anzolona called Pillay, who was sitting in the car on the other side of the window. Minutes later, Anzolona exited the store and returned to the SUV. As he was getting into the rear driver’s-side seat, a Black male approached and fired several shots at closes range. Anzolona was struck by four bullets and died. Mullapudi, who was seated next to him, was hit by three bullets and died.
Neither the other female passenger or Pillay got a good look at the shooter. Pillay gave two statements to police and testified at the preliminary hearing.
But on Wednesday, several answers about what exactly Anzolona said to him during that call were inconsistent with his previous sworn statements and testimony.
For instance, Pillay testified Wednesday that Anzolon a spoke to him in a “medium” voice — rather than the “low” voice he had previously described, and was calling to tell him — from the other side of the windows — they had purchased some cognac and vodka.
And while he previously said the phone call left him “scared” and on “high alert,” he denied that was the case in court Wednesday. He also said that when Anzolona told him to “be on point,” that simply meant to be “ready to leave,” and that as a result he started up the car.
Fried told Pillay that previously, he had said “be on point” also meant to be aware of your surroundings.
“I always observe my surroundings,” Pillay responded.
The Superior Court of Justice trial resumes Thursday.