Warning: The following article contains details some may find disturbing.
The stabbing of Nick Tanti outside a Downtown Guelph pool hall was captured by nearby security cameras on Feb. 29, 2020.
Segments of those videos were part of the evidence presented by a pair of Guelph police officers Monday on the opening day of the trial of Aidan and Angus Kee, the brothers standing trial his killing.
Aidan, 28, is charged with second-degree murder. Angus, 24, is charged with unlawful act manslaughter and accessory after the fact manslaughter.
Acting Sgt. Christopher Sutter and Cst. Rick Towlson took to the stand for the prosecution.
Towlson showed the jury a lengthy power point presentation, showing stills and video surveillance footage of the incident from multiple vantage points.
The 14-person jury saw video of what was a three-minute sequence of events, involving two altercations. The Kee brothers were shown approaching Tony's Billiards on Macdonell Street when Tanti, sitting at a table in front of the window, got up and stepped outside at 1:47 a.m.
Video showed a fight ensued between the three in front of Tony's, which lasted about a minute before Tanti went back inside the bar, shirtless as a result of the struggle.
The multiple angles captured Aidan trying to go in the bar a minute later, but he was shoved out.
A camera situated in the entranceway to the apartments above the bar then shows Aidan hiding behind a concrete pillar, with something in his right hand.
Tanti went back outside and Aidan is seen swinging his right hand, which began a brief second altercation.
Bystanders could be seen intervening and things settled down. But Tanti could be seen clutching his chest while leaning on the wall of the building.
He went back into the doorway of Tony's, where Towlson said he collapsed at 1:50 a.m.
Video also showed life-saving efforts being attempted on Tanti, but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Guelph General Hospital.
The brothers then fled eastbound on Macdonell.
Upon cross-examination, Aidan's defense lawyer James Milgin directed Towlson to one of the videos, where it appears Tanti went outside with something in his hand before the initial altercation.
Milgin: "You see that, sir."
Towlson: "Yup."
The object in question is not clear, and was not made clear during proceedings.
Sutter's testimony lasted about 20 minutes, when he recounted how his shift went that night.
He told the court he got to the scene at about 1:52 a.m., where he saw a man on a cell phone outside, and Tanti on the ground inside the doorway.
Video also showed a taxi cab was parked in front and Sutter approached the driver.
"He told me he saw two males running eastbound on Macdonell Street wearing dark clothing," Sutter said.
He went on to say he directed another officer at the scene to stay with Tanti, while he followed the taxi driver in the direction of where he saw the two men go.
"I drove in behind the taxi driver eastbound on Macdonell Street toward Wellington Street," Sutter added. "Prior to leaving, I had asked him to direct my attention to those persons when he saw them when we drove down the street."
That took them to the Macdonell and Wellington intersection, when he said the cab driver pointed to two people walking toward Allan's Bridge.
Sutter parked, pulled out his gun and initiated the arrest to what the court heard was no resistance from either Kee brother.
"They were cooperative," he said. "I asked them to separate from each other, and they did."
Backup officers arrived to help at the arrest scene. Sutter stayed with one of the officers and Angus, while other officers took care of Aidan.
Upon searching Angus, Sutter said he noticed "blood droplets on his jacket, on his hand, his right hand to be exact, and later on when they were putting him in the police car shortly after the search.
"I saw a small amount of blood on his shoe, mixed in with some snow," Sutter said.
He also found a black folding knife in his rear right side pants pocket, a dark camo face mask, and noted the smell of alcohol on his breath.
Once Angus was put inside the vehicle and Sutter secured the evidence, he said he went back to Tony's to speak to a witness, who he directed to other officers to give a statement.
He then said he went to businesses nearby to retrieve video for evidence purposes.
The jury, made up of eight women and six men, first heard a nine minute opening statement from Crown Attorney Leila Mehkeri.
She said the jury can expect to hear that Aidan was working at Onyx Nightclub that night, and was drinking after his shift was over at midnight. She added his brother joined him at the Onyx after.
She also explained Tanti was at Tony's, before heading to the Wyndham Street club earlier in the night.
"He was allowed to enter the Onyx," Mehkeri continued. "But after a while, the staff at the Onyx asked him to leave because of a history that Nicholas Tanti had with the club."
The defense lawyers did not make an opening statement.
Aidan and Angus arrived and left the courthouse separately.
The trial resumes Tuesday morning.
