Witness testifies about luring victim to a downtown park moments before stabbing death

A murder trial continues for a man charged in connection with the stabbing of one-time Helix guitarist, Daniel Fawcett. CTV London's Nick Paparella reports.

A Crown witness, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, told the court that they sold drugs in London and was friends with the accused at the murder trial, 50-year-old Craig Allan.

The person said that one of their clients was Daniel Fawcett, 52, the one-time guitarist with the rock band Helix, “I was selling drugs to Dan or getting high.”

The witness told the court that they had been assaulted by Fawcett in the past and that the accused, Allan, who goes by the nickname “Chilli,” wanted some revenge, “Craig and Dan didn’t get along.”

Then in the middle of the night on Nov. 6, 2022, Fawcett was called out to a downtown area park with the witness saying, “I set Dan (Fawcett) up, I lured him to Gibbons Park. Dan thought I was going to be selling him drugs.”

They went on to say, “Someone jumped out of the bushes all in black, I kept walking. I didn’t stay for the fight.”

The witness was reluctant to say at first, but said it was Allan that they attended the park with, “I heard Chilli say, ‘Dan you drug and rape women’ and then I heard Dan say, ‘You got me.’”

The testimony continued with the witness saying, “He (Fawcett) was supposed to just get punched out. There was no plan to kill him. It was 3:30 in the morning we were all high.”

Once the witness learned Fawcett had died from a stab wound to the heart, they said the accused became remorseful, “Chilli got stuck in the middle of something he shouldn’t have been in. He felt bad Dan was dead. It’s really hard for me to be up here.”

Days later, Craig would be arrested in the GTA and charged with second-degree murder. At the start of this trial he pleaded not guilty.

The witness is expected to resume with their testimony on Tuesday under cross-examination from the defence.