'You're next': Survivor of country road stabbing testifies at murder trial in Saskatoon

A friend of James Swift who was with him the night he was stabbed to death testified she was also stabbed and left for dead in a ditch.

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

Belhumeur testified Monday as a Crown witness in the third week of Lischka and Ritzand's judge-alone trial at Court of King's Bench before Justice Michael Tochor.

Belhumeur said she was stabbed four times in the neck during a confrontation at a rural intersection near Wanuskewin Heritage Park and then thrown into the same ditch as Swift, who was also stabbed.

"I watched one of my best friends die right in my arms," Belhumeur told court. "His whole mouth filled up with blood and his eyes rolled back and I knew he was dead."

She said she waited for her attackers to leave, then got up and flagged down a passing motorist to get help.

Charges of murder and attempted murder against Anthony Burley were stayed in 2023, replaced with a charge of being an accessory to murder after the fact.

How it started

Belhumeur told court she met up with Swift – a long-time friend – at the Hose and Hydrant pub for a drink. He was upset about his girlfriend and wanted to blow off steam, she testified.

Outside the bar, a car backing up hit Swift in the leg. He slammed his fist on the car, leaving a dent. The three men charged in the case were in the car. There was an argument, but then Burley invited them to his place for more drinking, the court heard.

"He obviously didn't want [Swift] to report it," Belhumeur testified, later adding that she went with her friend because she didn't want to leave him alone with strangers.

After drinking at a house in the Evergreen neighbourhood, the five people left together in a car to buy cocaine. They were driving around the edge of the city when a fight broke out. Swift wanted to hold the portion of cocaine he paid for, but the other guys refused, Belhumeur said.

They stopped along a grid road just north of Saskatoon. Belhumeur testified Lischka pulled Swift out of the car. Then she heard Swift yell.

"I looked over and he was covered in blood," she told court. She testified she saw Lischka cut Swift's throat and put him in the ditch.

"Ashtin pulled me out of the car and said, 'You're next,'" Belhumeur testified. She started running and felt a sharp pain. She told court she was stabbed in the neck four times.

Then they took her phone and threw her in the ditch beside the dying Swift, Belhumeur said.

Cross exam scrutiny

Under cross examination, Belhumeur faced questions about inconsistent statements to police and in court. Defence lawyer Nicholas Stooshinoff (representing Lischka) pressed her on the identity of the person who stabbed Swift.

"You don't know who stabbed [Swift]," Stooshinoff said to her.

"I think I do," Belhumeur said.

"You did not see it, correct?"

"I did not…[but] there was no one else around. We were in the middle of nowhere."

Stooshinoff also questioned her about inconsistent statements about when she saw someone with a knife that night.

She told court she first saw the knife when Lischka turned around in the front passenger seat and threatened her with it. Stooshinoff pointed out that in her initial statement to police in 2022 she said she only noticed the knife later in the night outside the car during the altercation.

"The problem I have is that you're filling in gaps of what happened with what you think or believe happened, not what you know happened, do you agree with that?" Stooshinoff asked Belhumeur.

"No, I do not agree," she said.

Belhumeur's cross examination is set to continue Tuesday morning.