Bartender heard ‘big bang’ at scene of gangster shooting
Dean Michael Wiwchar and Rabih ‘Robby’ Alkhalil, have pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of Sandip Duhre
A Vancouver bartender testified Tuesday that he heard a “big bang” at the time of the fatal shooting of a man at the Sheraton Wall Centre.
Fred Cuevas was giving evidence at the trial of three men charged in connection with the murder of Sandip Duhre on Jan. 17, 2012.
Cuevas said he had been serving several men at the bar of the Cafe One restaurant, with two of the men leaving in a hurry and using a $100 bill to pay for their food and drinks.
About 10 minutes later, Cuevas told a B.C. Supreme Court jury, he heard the big bang which he thought at first was a piano that had fallen.
“And then there was several loud bangs after that, which then I realized … was probably shots, gunshots,” he said.
Cuevas said that he saw a female server running from the restaurant toward the bar and looking “very scared.”
“Her face was … she was looking like she was in a very big hurry. She was walking, almost running toward us and had a facial expression of … a lot of anxiety.”
Under questioning from Crown counsel Nicole Gregoire, the bartender said that after the shooting, he ran into a washroom that was adjacent to the bar and hid. Another man also ran into the washroom, he said.
Court has heard that Duhre was shot in the head at close range after he had a meal with a friend at the restaurant.
In her opening statement to the jury, Gregoire said that the shooter entered the Wall Centre upper lobby doors of the North Tower, his face partially covered, and walked straight to the restaurant where Duhre was seated before opening fire.
Two men, Dean Michael Wiwchar and Rabih “Robby” Alkhalil, have pleaded not guilty to the firstdegree murder of Duhre. The Crown alleges that Wiwchar was hired as a hit man and fatally shot Duhre while Alkhalil was on the scene acting as a spotter.
Larry Ronald Amero, a third accused, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. The three accused have also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit the murder of Sukhveer Dhak.
recognized as a regular at the Wall Centre arriving at the restaurant.
He described the man as being tall, dark-skinned, and wearing a hat, red jacket, jeans and sneakers.
In prior interactions with the man, he had been wellbehaved, but on the night of the shooting the man was “not as nice as usual, just kind of distracted looking,” said Cuevas.
The man, who was accompanied by a second man, was seated at the back of the restaurant, he said.
Cuevas testified that one of the two men seated at the bar who left in a hurry before the shooting had earlier been leaning back in his seat, looking around the restaurant.
One of the 14-member B.C. Supreme Court jury was excused from jury duty on Monday. The reasons for the juror being excused are the subject of a publication ban. The six-month trial, which began last week, was expected to continue Wednesday.