A Guelph taxi driver was parking at his office, waiting for a fare.
But when Alex Olinskie pulled into a parking spot on Macdonell Street on February 29, 2020, he witnessed a fight in front of Tony's Billiards that led to the death of Nick Tanti.
Olinskie was one of five witnesses to testify in the trial of Aidan and Angus Kee Tuesday.
He told the jury the two-person fight didn't seem overly heated, and a third person was in the middle trying to separate two men.
"The man in the middle was (trying to let them know) it was even, the fight was even," Olinskie recalled. "Both had the chance to get at each other, and nothing's coming of it so trying to get them to stop."
He said he saw from his vehicle "the fellow that passed away" had a mark near his solar plexus, which was "pretty red and little bit bloody."
Once Tanti fell in the doorway, and 911 was called, Olinskie was still on scene.
He said he was approached by an officer, and informed him of the two individuals that left the scene going eastbound toward Allan's Bridge.
Olinskie said he then drove with the officer behind him, directed his attention to the two — who were both by the bridge by this point — and was around to see backup officers arrive and arrest the two individuals.
Jackie Mahoney, meantime, heard the commotion outside of Tony's from a seat in front of the front window. She was the woman Tanti approached and sat with shortly before his interactions outside with the Kee brothers.
She told the jury Tanti got to the table with a beer in hand and asked "if I wanted to be friends."
"I kind of shrugged it off cause he seemed pretty intoxicated," Mahoney said.
Shortly after, she said Tanti went outside. She did note initially that Tanti put his beer bottle on the table, but upon video evidence being shown to her, Mahoney confirmed Tanti brought a beer bottle with him outside.
She heard the altercation happening, but told the jury she wanted nothing to do with the situation and paid attention to her phone instead.
She did recall seeing Tanti go back into Tony's without a shirt, and then back outside shortly after, where the second altercation took place.
Mahoney recalled seeing Tanti laying down and bleeding inside the doorway of the bar, and when patrons were able to leave, they did so using a side door as a result of the incident.
Stephanie Cameron and Fabrizio Tessari were both at the pool tables when everything was going on. Cameron had arrived earlier in the night with a friend, and said Tanti was "buzzing" when he approached them.
The three played pool. she said, for about half an hour before Tanti left and went outside.
She said she saw the situation unfold while still at the pool tables, a bit back from the front window. But Cameron eventually walked to the front, where she caught what turned out to be the tail end of the second altercation.
"I was hysterical," Cameron remembered about speaking to officers afterwards.
Tessari was a friend of Tanti's from high school, and told the jury the night of Feb. 29 was the first time seeing him in a couple years.
Tessari was at the bar with a couple friends when Tanti showed up.
He said he and Tanti had a couple beers and chatted for a bit, but not about anything specific.
He also told the jury he didn't see Tanti leave later on, and his next interaction was when he arrived back at Tony's.
Crown Attorney Leila Mehkeri: "Did he seem upset?"
Tessari: "No."
Tanti went outside shortly after, and Tessari remembers being called over by one of the workers saying Tanti was involved in a fight.
He said he saw the fight unfold, and when Tanti fell in the doorway, his and other people's attention went to trying to save his life.
"He was on his back, and we were trying to put pressure on the wound," Tessari said, adding one of the people helping had medical training and trying to become a nurse.
He also recalls going outside for the first time, and Aidan making a "what did I do?" gesture.
The first witness of the day was Reese Hitterman, who was working part-time at Onyx Nightclub as a support staff member. He was the one tasked with asking Tanti to leave Onyx on Feb. 29.
He told the jury he didn't know Tanti, and noted in the conversation that eventually involved Aidan "everything was calm."
Aidan, the older brother, faces a second-degree murder charge, while Angus is accused of unlawful act manslaughter and accessory after the fact manslaughter.
One more witness is expected to testify for the Crown when the trial resumes Thursday morning following a day of procedural matters on Wednesday.
