This trial started November 24, 2003 and is ongoing.

May 11, 2004
by
dll

9:02am - All attorneys and Haslett present. Haslett walking around with a cup of water. Song and Veronica conferring. SB's blue tie waiting patiently for him on the defense table.

9:05am - AR and SB brought in. Guards discussing where to sit. Say the benches are more comfortable than the chairs that are scattered around. now they are talking about "scenarios" are video taped and which are audio taped. Talking about if there will be any video today. Discussing whether the prosecution will wrap it up today.

SB and Jeff whispering for several minutes now. AR chatting with Marc and Veronica.

9:15am - Judge comes in and sits down without the normal "All rise for the Judge" shout out by Shyrell. Roger going over stipulations. SB whispering to AR during this.

9:30am - Jury enters. Judge addresses jury to tell them the prosecution will rest today and we'll be taking an extra-long morning break. James resumes his re-direct of Haslett. Brings out an exhibit that is a grocery bag and a brown envelope. Some hairs that SB and JM collected were in there, along with the CD called from the group James

James then has Haslett come down to a diagram of a room at the Landis Hotel and asks him where everyone was sitting in the room.

9:40am - James ends. Song begins. Song is questioning Haslett on whether SB and JM were trying to hide things they were saying when Haslett overheard their conversation at the Landis. Asks how far away from them he was. About 25 feet. Song says the same distance you and I are now? Yes. And you can hear me speaking? Yes. Did SB and JM whisper? No. So you can assume they knew you could hear them? Oh I have no idea…

Now asking about a conversation SB and Haslett had about a hairbrush SB left in Bellevue. He asked Haslett if the police could use the hairbrush he left and plant his hair at the crime scene? Haslett was uncommunicative.

10:04pm - Song ends. James does his redirect. Asking do you know why SB knew so much about the probate lawyer AR had hired and how much money they were going to get from the house? I figured SB had "hands-on" knowledge of these situations.

10:12am - James ends his redirect. Song asks Haslett about the fact that the bat was mentioned in newspaper articles, and that Haslett had told SB to "go read the articles and see what they are saying about you guys."

10:13am - Song ends. Haslett permanently excused from testifying. Judge calls half hour break.

11:01am - All attorneys present. Noel and Sara Jean sitting in press area. 48-hours crew here. I ask Veronica how many exhibits have been entered. She says around 500. Might be more later.

11:09am - SB and AR brought in. Judge present. Jeff wants the jury to know that during their extra long break they eliminated the need to call two witnesses. Roger objects to that. Judge agrees with Roger.

11:15am - Jury brought in and the judge dismisses them for lunch, says be back at 1:30pm. Jury leaves. Jeff and Veronica ask the judge to dismiss the charges against their clients due to the prosecution not proving it was them. James argues against these motions. James tells the whole case in story form, starting at the beginning, ie - JM testifying how they planned the murders. Judge rules in favor of the prosecution.

11:26am - Roger presents a motion to the court regarding Nozgol, the ex-friend of SB's whom they want to testify that he told her he wanted to know what it was like to kill somebody. The judge ruled against her weeks ago. Roger says that since Song brought up that Haslett suggested motives for SB killing AR's family, that the prosecution should be able to present a witness who said SB had a motive months before the murder. Judge denies motion without hearing from the defense. Says he warned everyone that this trial needs to wrap up and the defense would need extra time to prepare for that witness. Defense is warned that should the defendants testify it could open the door to Nozgol testifying.

11:50am - Lunch break. Return at 1:30pm.

1:33pm - All attorneys present. Judge Mertel telling a camera man for the King County Journal where he can stand to take still shots of SB on the stand. Haslett in courtroom. Jeff says that if Haslett stays in courtroom he will never be able to be recalled. Haslett has a brief conversation with James and then leaves the courtroom.

1:34pm - SB and AR brought in. Judge comes in. Four or five observers. Another video camera has been added to the two already in the courtroom. Roger says to judge they received a phone call in the office during the noon hour that says Bob Thompson wouldn't be called this afternoon, because SB was taking the stand. They say they need 48 hours notice in order to be prepared to cross examine him. So if the defense calls him, they might not do the cross for several days.

1:45pm - Jury brought back in. Judge reads stipulation to jury that prosecution wanted entered and worked all morning on. These include that the cigarette butts found at the crime scene were that of Bellevue Police Officer jerry Johnson, who smoked them and threw them down (bright). That none of the DNA at the crime scene matched Jesse Brar. That the blood found in the garage was a mix of Dr. Rafay's and an "unknown male."

1:55pm - James says with that stipulation read, the prosecution rests.

For this part of the testimony I'm going to do a little color coding.  I had to write so fast that it's not in a very good narrative form.  Sometimes it might be hard to tell who is speaking between Jeff and Sebastian, so I'm going to make all of Sebastian's info is in red.  I couldn't usually quote him directly since I was writing so fast, but if I did you'll find it in quotes.

1:56pm - Jeff calls Sebastian to the stand. He is sworn in by Judge Mertel. The judge offers him some water, which he accepts. Judge asks him to state his full name and spell his last name. He states his full name but forgets to spell his last name. He is barely audible. Jeff asks SB for his address. He says he lives at the King Count Jail and then gives his parent's address. Jeff asks him to move the microphone closer and to speak up. He then asks him how old he was during the time of all the scenarios we've been talking about in court. He says 19. He is still barely audible. Jeff asks him if he is nervous or something. SB says, yes, very. Jeff asks him why. SB says that he feels like if he messes up on the stand it will be the end of his life. Watching SB on the stand those first few minutes was excruciating. It is obviously the most terrifying thing in his life, and witnessing that is extremely difficult. SB goes on to say that he hasn't been in a "normal" situation, be it professional or social, for nine years, and he's not sure how to act. He seems very self conscious but seems to be relaxing more as he explains what his life has been like and how nervous he is.

Jeff asks SB if he had anything to do with the Bellevue murders. No. Then why did he confess? Haslett told me early on that he paid money to find out if I was a threat to their group. Shinkaruk told me he was a murderer and wanted me to reciprocate with a confession. When I didn't he said he regretted telling me anything. We decided that maintaining innocence wasn't worth the risk.

Why did the trip to Bellevue happen? Atif invited me down for the week. Did Atif invite anyone else? Yes, but I was the only one who could come.

Jeff asking about taped interviews w/police. Did you tell the them truth about everything? Yes. Did you sneak out of the Lion King and kill Atif's family? No. Where did you go after you left Bellevue? To my parent's house. Did you try to work after returning to Vancouver? I was recognized whenever I turned in job applications. One place asked me to come back to a training session, but after one session they called and said they filled the position with someone else. People recognized me from all the media and didn't want me in the business. Did you go to school after returning to Vancouver? I showed up the first day and there were literally 100 people staring at me and whispering I was that "Sebastian Burns" guy. Second day was similar, so I didn't go back. Moved from my parents house to Phillips Ave in September. Robin's lease was up and we all moved in together.

My parents bought us groceries for the first three months. My sister loaned me money and my parents loaned me money. Then I broke my leg and I went on "injured persons assistance or whatever it is called." AR had no money so I loaned him $1,000 the summer of '94, then more money in the fall. JM had a job for awhile and then was on unemployment. Robin worked. Jeff asks - you thought the house and telephone were bugged, why? My dad suggested that, and Ron Issacs, my girlfriend's father did too. Did you know anything about phone taps in Canada? No.

On April 11, 1995 you went for a haircut and met Shinkaruk. Were you going out a lot during that time? No, I hadn't met any new friends since July of 1994. I was thinking of doing some animation, but none of us were getting out much. What did you think of Shinkaruk when you first met him? He looked like a guy I met once who opened a nightclub. He looked like a business man. He seemed kind and I thought he had a generous nature. He talked to me like a normal person. I've never had anyone be so interested in me so fast in my life. What did you talk about? Movies. There was some talk about some $250k needed for a movie, right? Yes. I said I needed investors. He suggested he knew someone who might be interested in investing in my movie. How did you react when he said he could take you to someone right then who might be interested? I thought I was in over my head. I didn't even have a script and I was kind of playing up how much I knew about making a movie. So I told him the script wasn't in a readable form, when really there was no script at all. He said what his friend would be more interested in was if I was confident about the movie and my abilities to make it. He said it was a once in a lifetime chance and I should have some courage and do it.

At the end of your meeting with Shinkaruk and Haslett, what did you think of them? Well Haslett was described to me as someone who would do anything for money, so I thought he was a criminal. Shinkaruk didn't seem like a criminal, more like a business man. If you think Haslett was a criminal, why give him your phone number? He said he had a job for me. Did you give him your phone number? Yes. What did you expect before the Whistler scenario? I didn't know what to expect. As we drove up I felt creeped out. Shinkaruk said the conversation was friendly between you two, and that you didn't ask where you were, going. Is that true? Yes. On the way up to Whistler did he ever mention that he knew who you were? "No. But on the way up I considered in my head that this might be related to Bellevue somehow."

Did you have feelings of trust for the BPD? No. Was it a surprise when you found out what they wanted you to do in Whistler? I felt that I'd been tricked. I wasn't sure if this wasn't then intention of Shinkaruk the whole time he knew me. Why didn't you say I'm not going to do this? I didn't know what the consequences would be. I couldn't go to the police, because they would somehow how use it against me that I was hanging out with these criminals at all. They would use it to execute me. I had a lot of self doubt and wasn't able to be rational. Did you drive the car back? Yes. You were paid about $200 for this job, what was your reaction to that? I was pretty upset the whole way back, about driving that stolen car, but I wasn't going to tell them that in a sincere way, so I made the excuse that it wasn't enough money.

We've heard about a conversation about a hit man, did you tell them you wanted to be a hit man that night? No. I was trying to explain to him why I wouldn't work for him anymore and Shinkaruk was arguing with me saying that what they did was perfectly reasonable. I said that is like hiring a hit man by taking someone somewhere and telling them to do the hit right there, by putting him in a hit situation. When did you start talking to AR and JM about Shinkaruk and Haslett? Immediately. Why did you go to another meeting with Shinkaruk and Haslett after the Whistler scenario if you were so upset by it? I really liked Shinkaruk as a person. He seemed so interested in me. Made me feel like such a success. It wasn't clear to me how attached he was to Haslett. Why meet them again? I wanted to tell them I didn't plan on working for them anymore. We heard an intercept where someone was saying 'If they ask you to do it again, what are you going to say? You need to have a plan. What if they hound you? Do it! Do it! Do it!' Who was talking to you? JM. He was trying to help me so I could cut them off. We heard another intercept where you said you were going to tell them you were too busy with your movie to work for them. My friends were saying I should cut them off, but I still wanted to be friends with Gary.

There were several things said to you on May 6th. Did Shinkaruk tell you he was responsible for killing a guy May 6th? Yes. What did you think when he told you that? I thought I'd never cross them because they are dangerous. Also my idea that Shinkaruk was a cool guy I wanted to be friends with was gone. You told Gary you had an investor and you were working on the movie, was that true? No. I needed an explanation to get away from them. And that I was not the kind of guy to "drop a dime" on them. How did you feel when Haslett said to Shinkaruk that a witness was "taken care of?" I was scared. If you were afraid why didn't you sound more afraid on the tape? I tried not to show it so they would trust me. By the time Haslett arrived Shinkaruk had generated a lot of problems for me. I felt like this whole meeting was a trust test to see if I was going to turn them into the police. How did you feel when he said the only reason you're here is because of the Bellevue murders and that is how he knows you are solid? That was already implied before he said it. What about when you brought up that you had written down his license plate number? On the tape there is 30 seconds of silence. Both Haslett and Shinkaruk claim not to remember what was going on during that silence. Do you remember? Yes. They were staring at each other. What did you think was going on at that point? I thought they were trying to decide whether to off me or not.

3:05pm - Afternoon break called.

3:27pm - SB and AR brought in. During SB's previous testimony the courtroom filled so there were no seats left. Even Lori Matsukawa from the local CBS news station came in. During the break the judge says no one can come in during SB's testimony. You are seated before the jury comes in or you can't come in the courtroom. He says otherwise it's too distracting. Jeff fixes SB's tie and walks him back to the witness stand.

3:35pm - Jury comes back in. Jeff continues his direct of Sebastian. Have you been in custody since July 31, 1995? Yes. How much of your time these days is spent thinking about this case? A lot.

3:45pm - June 28th and 29th scenarios - Why were you giving evasive answers to Haslett? Haslett wanted an A to Z story of what happened in Bellevue and I didn't have one because we didn't do it. It was impossible for me to give him true answers. He said his guy in the states would find out if I'm lying and I felt my life was in danger. He asked you if you could kill again. There was no way I was to be a hit man for Haslett. He intimated on May 6th that that is what he wanted and I said what I said to make sure he knew I'd never do it. Why were you concerned about fabrication of evidence? I was told by a few people that the BPD would try to make a case against us and I never saw evidence to the contrary. When I saw that fake BPD memo it confirmed it.

Between June 29th and July 16th, what did you and AR decide to do about Haslett and Shinkaruk? We decided to give them the story they wanted. We got the info from the paper and news reports. I practiced a story to give to Haslett. Like why was there no forensic report on Atif? We had to come with a story for that. We said AR witnessed the murder of his mother and then went and stole the stuff from the house while I killed his father and sister.

Why did you say things to AR during his conversation to Haslett like "You may not remember this but I think it happened like this." Because I didn't want our story screwed up.

4:10pm - Jeff ends his direct. Judge asks Rafay's team if they have any questions for him. No. Court ends for the day.