Surveillance video reviewed at murder trial

Caesars Windsor surveillance footage shows Andrew Witt making repeated withdrawals from an ATM and expressing his grief over failed bets, including the loss of $2,500 on one roll at the craps table just minutes before leaving the casino, a jury heard Wednesday.

Less than an hour later, the 55-year-year-old Witt was dead, after riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by his best friend, Andrew Cowan, who is now on trial in Superior Court facing a charge of first-degree murder.

Cowan, 45, who survived the Oct. 21, 2012, crash, has claimed both were attempting to commit suicide after leaving the casino, when he piloted an F-150 pickup at a high rate of speed through a flower bed that he used as a ramp to get airborne and smash into a building in the 200 block of Talbot Street West in Leamington.

David Ellis, a surveillance supervisor with Caesars Windsor, provided the court with the security video on Wednesday that showed the two men entering the casino just before 8:50 on the night of the fatal crash and leaving shortly after 12:30 a.m.

Under questioning by assistant Crown attorney Tom Meehan, Ellis initially told the court “nothing out of the ordinary” occurred during the roughly four hours Cowan and Witt were there.

The two were shown on video mainly playing blackjack and craps, at times celebrating with high-fives. They ordered seven rounds of beer during the visit, according to the video, Ellis said. The pair had no altercations with other customers or staff and displayed “no unruly behaviour,” he said.

But during cross-examination, Cowan’s defence lawyer, Patrick Ducharme, produced casino records that showed how Witt lost $5,500 that night while gambling.

Both men had player’s accounts at the casino, so their wins and losses were tracked.

Ducharme called on video footage from when Witt was in line on three different occasions at a casino ATM machine. Ducharme also showed video of Witt putting his hands to his head in anguish when he lost funds shortly before midnight. Another video clip at 12:13 a.m. showed Witt making one final trip to the ATM machine.

“My point in showing this to the jury, is (Witt) made withdrawals five times that night of $500 at the ATM,” Ducharme said.

“Then just before you see him leave, he makes one more bet.”

The video showed Witt pulling the final withdrawal from the ATM, walking to a craps table with Cowan behind him, quickly making a single losing wager and then just walking away.

Ducharme produced Witt’s casino account records that showed that final losing bet with corresponding video was for $2,500.

He also produced further records to Ellis that showed Witt losing roughly $5,000 and more than $6,000 on two previous visits to the casino in the weeks before.

The trial will resume in Superior Court on Friday.