A Crown witness had more to say when he was put back on the stand Friday afternoon for his second day of testimony at a Halifax murder trial.
Joseph Fowler testified Calvin Malcolm Sparks asked him to “poke” Nadia Gonzales “with a knife” a week before her death.
“He said he wanted me to get rid of her,” the 21-year-old told the court.
Sparks, 26, of Dartmouth, and Samanda Rose Ritch, 22, of Halifax, are charged with first-degree murder in the June 16, 2017, stabbing of Gonzales.
Gonzales, a 35-year-old mother of two from Hammonds Plains, died after she and a man named John Patterson were attacked in the hallway of an apartment building at 33 Hastings Dr.
Gonzales’ body was found in a hockey bag on a landing in the building’s west stairwell.
Fowler met Gonzales through his step-dad and drove her around Halifax Regional Municipality to deliver drugs.
Fowler said Sparks told him to stab Gonzales while he was in the car with her, put the seat back and Sparks would “deal with the rest.”
Fowler said he would go along with Sparks when he talked about it, but didn’t intend to do anything to Gonzales.
He said he had the opportunity to injure Gonzales one night when she had her head down and was on her phone, but didn’t because he liked her more than Sparks.
He said he ended up warning her about what could have happened and told her to “watch out.”
In text messages exchanged between Fowler and Gonzales on June 14, 2017, Fowler told Gonzales he could’ve taken her out “as he requested,” but didn’t. The text message was referring to Sparks, Fowler said.
Crown attorney Rob Kennedy also had Fowler review text messages he had exchanged with Sparks in June 2017, but he didn’t recall most of the messages.
Fowler testified Sparks had obtained Gonzales’ phone before her death and saw messages exchanged between her and police.
“He was pissed off,” said Fowler, who also saw the messages.
Fowler said Sparks wanted to “take out” Gonzales because he was “jealous of her and whatever she was doing.”
“He was going to poke her with a knife,” Fowler said of Sparks’ alleged plan, adding Sparks carried a knife with an orange handle and black blade in his pocket.
Fowler called the plan “sloppy,” but added he “knew it was going to happen.”
“He wanted to kill her. I don’t think he cared how,” Fowler said.
Fowler’s testimony Friday was similar to the statement he gave Halifax Regional Police on Sept. 28, 2018.
Thursday, Fowler said he didn’t remember giving a statement to police, but remembered the statement in detail on Friday.
Defence lawyer Peter Planetta, who represents Ritch, pressed Fowler during cross-examination on how different his testimony was Friday compared to Thursday.
“Yesterday you lied and committed perjury, would you agree?” Planetta asked.
Fowler agreed, but said the statement he gave Friday was the truth.
During cross-examination by Planetta, Fowler also testified Ritch, who he had met briefly, wasn’t present when Sparks’ allegedly discussed his plans to kill Gonzales with him.
Defence lawyer Malcolm Jeffcock, who represents Sparks, started off his cross-examination by asking Fowler about his girlfriend, who was present in court Thursday, but not Friday.
Jeffcock went on to show Fowler three photos of different men, one of which Fowler identified, before asking him if had many black friends.
“I can’t name a friend that I had that was black, sir,” Fowler said.
After Jeffcock asked Fowler to define words or phrases he used in his text messages, such as dispensary or a nine, court was adjourned.
The trial started Nov. 4 and is expected to run until the end of next week.
A male juror was dismissed by Brothers Thursday, leaving a jury of eight men and four women.
Jeffcock is to continue his cross-examination of Fowler on Monday morning.
