Witness heard someone tell Raymond Stacey 'gut you like a fish' before stabbing

A witness has given a statement to police about what she heard outside her home moments before a fatal stabbing in Mount Pearl Sunday night.

CBC News spoke to the witness Wednesday, who says Raymond Stacey, accused in the stabbing, used a laneway near her house to walk to Greenwood Crescent to catch a shuttle van for work.

• Raymond Stacey, accused in brutal stabbing, fit to stand trial
• Raymond Stacey charged with 2nd-degree murder of Clifford Comerford

Stacey, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Clifford Comerford, 41, who died after being stabbed.

The witness, who CBC has agreed not to identify, said she and her neighbour were outside Sunday night when they heard yelling and swearing from nearby.

She said she heard someone say to Stacey, "I'm going to gut you like a fish," and heard Stacey reply, "What? You are going to gut me like a fish?"

According to the witness, there were three or four men outside the van, and one of them, who wasn't wearing a coat in the cold weather, repeatedly said to Stacey, "Make the first smack."

She added she heard Stacey call out either, "He tried to kill me," or "have me killed last night."

The witness said Stacey kept saying he just wanted to get to work, and at one point was able to put a backpack in the van, but someone threw it back out.

She said Stacey was heard saying, "I got to go to work. You're not doing this to me, I'm not having it." The witness added Stacey didn't throw any punches, was not aggressive, and was trying to avoid a confrontation.

The witness said the neighbour with her yelled at the men, telling them to get out of there and there were children in the neighbourhood, warning they were going to call police.

She said Stacey got in the van, which then drove off. Moments later, just up the street, Comerford was stabbed. He died later in hospital.

The witness said she never saw a knife, and doesn't know if it was Comerford doing any of the yelling, but she doesn't believe it was Comerford who challenged Stacey to throw the first smack.

According to the witness, she visited Stacey's mother the next day to offer her condolences, thinking it had been Stacey who was killed.

It was Stacey's mother who informed the witness Stacey was facing charges, and that's when she decided she needed to approach police.