Witness places Adam Drake at bar where Pat Stay was stabbed
Drake’s jury trial on a charge of second-degree murder is in its second week
For the first time since Adam Drake's murder trial started, a witness has placed him in the bar where Dartmouth battle rapper Pat Stay was fatally stabbed.
Drake, 34, is charged with second-degree murder in Stay's death in 2022. His jury trial is in its second week in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Dartmouth.
Nicole Zakhaur, who knew both Drake and the 36-year-old rap artist before that night, testified Thursday that she and a friend were out for dinner on the evening of Sept. 3, 2022, when she got an Instagram message from Drake inviting her for drinks.
She said she and her friend met Drake in the bar of the Marriott Harbourfront, a hotel on the Halifax waterfront where he was staying.
Zakhaur said after meeting at the Marriott, the three of them and another man whose name she didn't remember walked along the waterfront and ended up at the Yacht Club Social, the nightclub where Stay was later stabbed.
They settled in a small VIP section at the back of the bar.
The Crown had Zakhaur watch security videos recorded inside the bar that had already been played repeatedly during the trial. But with her narration, it was possible to identify the relevant players amid the jumble of movement and dim lighting in the bar.
The video shows Drake making frequent trips to the front door of the bar. Zakhaur said he never told her who or what he was looking for.
She said she saw Stay arrive at the bar and make his way to the VIP section. She said she didn't see him get stabbed, and didn't see any blood.
"I saw Pat kind of tumble over and fall to the ground," she said. "I thought he got punched, someone was on top of him."
The commotion in the bar increased as people realized what had happened.
Zakhaur said she, Drake, her friend and the other man left through a back exit that brought them out on a street one block above the main entrance to the bar. The four of them walked back to the Marriott. She said Drake went into the hotel while she and the other two went to another bar to continue drinking.
Zakhaur said at that point she still didn't know about the stabbing.
"I wouldn't have been able to continue my night if I knew something had happened," she said.
Under cross-examination from Drake's lawyer, the woman said she hadn't heard from Drake in years before that night and she said their choice of the Yacht Club Social was completely random.
She said there were "good vibes" the entire night and Drake's demeanour didn't change. She appeared on the hotel's security video holding hands with him.
"There was no feeling that anything had happened," she said.
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