Trial begins for pair charged in death of man in Ahuntsic
The Crown’s theory in the death of a 72-year-old man who was killed at a café in Ahuntsic two years ago is that he was shot in error by a gunman who intended to kill someone well known to police.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Katerine Brabant presented that theory in her opening statement to a jury at the Montreal courthouse hearing the case involving the death of Angelo D’Onofrio, who was fatally shot by a lone gunman just before 3 p.m. on June 2, 2016. Brabant said there was little space inside the café to allow D’Onofrio to flee from the man who shot him and that the gunman fled immediately after he carried out the slaying to a vehicle that was waiting outside.
“The gunman said nothing and demanded nothing before he shot Mr. D’Onofrio,” Brabant said while arguing that by the end of the trial, the jury will be convinced that the gunman was Joubens Jeff Theus, 27, and that he used a driver, Ebamba Ndutu Lufiau, 30, to bring him to the café and as a getaway driver.
Both men are charged with first-degree murder. Brabant told the jury they will hear evidence that Theus was very deliberate in his steps as he approached the café and D’Onofrio.
“Who is the victim? Who is Mr. D’Onofrio? He was a man with no criminal record. He was not known to police,” Brabant said. She then put forth the police theory that the intended target was Antonio Vanelli, “who is well known to police.”
Brabant said Vanelli was known to frequent the same café and showed up there after D’Onofrio was shot. Also, Brabant said, Vanelli’s vehicle was parked close to the café when D’Onofrio was shot.
While providing a summary of the evidence that will be presented during the trial, Brabant said the accused tried to destroy evidence by burning it, but failed to accomplish their mission. From the fire, police managed to recover a licence plate that had been stolen before D’Onofrio was shot and that a witness noted as being on the getaway vehicle as it drove away. At least one eyewitness described the getaway driver as a man fitting Lufiau’s description.
The licence plate helps link the two men to the shooting, because DNA from both men was found on clothing that had not been completely destroyed in the fire.
Brabant also said that, after zeroing in on Theus and Lufiau, Montreal police secretly recorded their telephone conversations and some included reactions to the aftermath of the homicide.
The first witness called to the stand on Wednesday was Catherine Cusson, a crime-scene technician with the Montreal police who took photos at the café after the shooting.
The trial will resume on Thursday.