This article reports on the latest developments in a Halifax murder trial. For the second consecutive day, a teenage witness has withdrawn their initial statements regarding the events leading up to a fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old student last year.

The witness, a 14-year-old whose identity is protected, initially told the youth court that he saw the 17-year-old defendant produce a knife and then drop its cover minutes before Ahmad Maher Al Marrach was stabbed during a confrontation in a car park near the Halifax Shopping Centre. The young witness stated that he feared he might also get stabbed when the defendant picked up the knife cover.

The prosecution and the defense both concur that the defendant did not directly stab Al Marrach. However, the prosecution argues that the defendant is guilty of second-degree murder because he orchestrated a group attack that he knew could result in Al Marrach’s death on April 22.

The young witness later retracted his earlier identification of the knife bearer after viewing two videos in court; one from a surveillance camera in the parking garage and another from a cellphone carried by one of the teenagers involved in the fight. The witness, currently in Grade 9, then identified another boy in the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight as the person with the knife.

Earlier in the week, another 15-year-old witness testified that the defendant had threatened him with a knife and had charged towards him during the fight. However, under cross-examination, this witness also withdrew these claims after the defendant’s lawyer showed him the surveillance video and highlighted his contradictory statement to the police.

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on January 14, 2024.