Accused killer implicates Crown witness at Saskatoon murder trial

One of the two men accused of killing a Saskatoon man testified on Thursday that he didn't stab or kill anyone. Instead, he blamed a third person, his former roommate, in the final day of testimony in the case.

Colton Lischka and Ashtin Ritzand are charged with second-degree murder in the Aug. 29, 2022, death of James "Ed" Swift. They're also charged with theft and the attempted murder of Swift's friend, Virginia Belhumeur.

Charges of murder and attempted murder against Anthony Burley, Lischka's former roommate, were stayed in 2023, replaced with a charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact. His case is still before the courts, and he testified as a Crown witness in this trial.

Lischka testified on Thursday. Ritzand did not testify.

Lischka, 31, is a heavy machine operator from Saskatoon who has moonlighted as a bar bouncer and personal trainer. His friends and family sat in court all week.

Lischka first met Ritzand just a few months before the night Swift died, and met Burley once or twice before they became roommates. Lischka moved into Burley's basement suite in Evergreen just two weeks before the night of Swift's death, he told court.

"I was kind of scared of him, to be honest," Lischka said when asked about living with Burley. He testified Burley talked about being friendly with Hells Angels members and how the biker club affords him special treatment.

As with previous witnesses, Lischka told his version of how his group met Swift and Belhumeur outside the Hose and Hydrant Brew Pub in a minor confrontation that set off a fatal series of events.

The group bought cocaine at a house on Lenore Drive. In the car, Swift and Burley argued about who got to hold the cocaine. Belhumeur testified this week that Lischka threatened Swift with a knife. Lischka testified he did not have a knife, and yelled at Swift and Burley because they wouldn't stop arguing.

Asked by his lawyer, Nicholas Stooshinoff, why the car stopped at an isolated area on the edge of the city, Lischka said Burley wanted them to stop.

Lischka said Swift and Burley got out of the car and walked behind it.

"Did you attack [Swift]?" Stooshinoff asked his client.

"No," Lischka said.

"Did you give a knife to Anthony Burley?"

"I didn't know there was a knife," Lischka said.

Lischka said he was in the car and didn't see what happened between Swift and Burley. He testified he did not see Burley or Ritzand stab Swift, but said Burley ran up to the car and yelled at them to pull Belhumeur out of the car.

"I saw his hands and forearms covered in blood," Lishka told court.

Earlier in the trial, Belhumeur testified she did not see who stabbed Swift or herself.

Lischka testified he remained in the car and didn't see what happened to Belhumeur. Burley drove the car back to the Evergreen basement suite.

"I remember Anthony saying, 'I don't know what happened. I just f--king snapped,' and that scared me more," Lischka told court.

The next day, Lischka stayed home when Burley and Ritzand left to get food. Then Burley burst into the house and told Lischka to hide because the police are looking for them. Moments later, police arrested Burley and Lischka. Ritzand turned himself into police sometime later.

Crown and defence lawyers have finished calling evidence, with final arguments scheduled for Friday afternoon in Saskatoon's Court of King's Bench.