Testimony in the first-degree murder trial for Randy Desmond Riley continued Thursday at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax, with a childhood friend of Riley’s taking the stand.
Riley, 27, is accused of killing Donald Chad Smith in October 2010. He has plead not guilty.
Smith was a young father of two and had recently started a job at Panada Pizza in Dartmouth. He was fatally shot while attempting to make a delivery at 15 Joseph Young Street.
Paul Smith told the eight-woman, six-man jury hearing the case on Thursday that in 2010 he had known Riley for about 15 years. Smith said he moved to Dartmouth from Ontario when he was five years old and that his family and Riley’s family were friends.
He said Riley called him on the night of October 23, 2010 and asked to be picked up. Smith said he met Riley and another man at a residence in Dartmouth and took them to an apartment building, where he testified that Riley got out of the vehicle and went inside.
A short time later, Smith said he saw Riley walking towards the vehicle with a bulge in his pants and a limp. He also said Riley was wearing gloves. Smith told the jury that Riley told him he had to take care of a guy but didn’t elaborate on what that meant.
Smith also said that Riley told him that he and “this guy” had gotten into a fight years before and that the man struck Riley with an object.
READ MORE: Accused murderer had grudge against man delivering pizza: Crown lawyer
Riley stared at Smith the entire time he was on the witness stand, while Smith looked at the ground while testifying.
Smith said he dropped Riley and the other man off in Highfield Park, near the bus terminal and went home. Smith said he lived on Highfield Park Drive at the time and when he went back out later that same night to get cigarettes, he saw police vehicles in the neighbourhood.
Under cross-examination, Smith said that he never heard Riley or the other man with him say they had a gun. He also said that he never observed a firearm. When questioned by the defence, Smith told the court that Riley never said he was going to hurt or kill anyone.
Smith also said he didn’t speak to police for nearly three years until he was arrested in Alberta and questioned about the murder.
The witness also agreed with the defence that he felt he had no choice but to be a witness and tell the police officers what he knew in relation to the matter.
WATCH: Jury shown gun, autopsy photos in Randy Riley first-degree murder trial
Dr. Marnie Wood also took the stand on Thursday. Wood has been a Medical Examiner since 2008.
She told the court that her job is to oversee sudden, violent or unexpected deaths. To date, she said she has performed about 2,600 autopsies. About five percent of those have been homicides.
Wood said she went to the scene on Joseph Young Street on the night of October 23, 2010. She also performed the autopsy on Donald Chad Smith the following day.
Wood testified that the victim had a shotgun wound on the right side of his chest, which caused holes in the heart, lungs and liver and resulted in a fatal amount of blood loss.
She estimated that Smith died about a minute after being shot. Wood also told the court that she was unable to determine how far away the shooter would have been standing when they fired the gun.
LISTEN: This is the 911 call that was made on the night of Oct. 23, 2010.
In total, 22 court days have been set aside to hear the matter at Supreme Court.
Testimony in the case is scheduled to resume Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
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