A Good Samaritan who pulled over on the side of Bathurst Street on the afternoon of Aug. 26, 2022, and watched a man stabbing two women said he decided to move towards the second younger victim when he realized he could help.
“I made a calculation in my head — if they’re dead, there’s nothing I can do but if there’s still life, I can come in and maybe I could help,” Royi Flescher testifed.
At the opening day of the trial for Godfrey Sig-Od, a Toronto man charged with two counts of first-degree murder in relation to his ex-wife and daughter, Flescher was just one of many witnesses who recalled the chaotic scene that played out in front of his eyes.
Flescher testified he was driving home from work, northbound on Bathurst Street near Elleslie Avenue, around 3:30 p.m. when he noticed an altercation in the southbound curb lane.
“It looked like two people wrestling or fighting with each other but it was just for a second and I didn’t get a very good picture,” Flescher said.
He said he pulled his car over into the right-hand lane and looked into his sideview mirror to get a better look at what was actually happening.
Flescher said he could see a knife, somebody stabbing someone else, and bits of blood. Realizing there was something serious going on, he decided to walk towards the scene.
“There was three people involved in what was going on. The man was stabbing the first woman, the older woman. Initially, she was standing up then lying down on the ground and he was stabbing her to death. He then moved to the second victim, the younger lady. He was stabbing her again. Her shirt was up, you could see her bra and he was just stabbing and stabbing and stabbing,” Flescher recalled.
Assistant Crown attorney Rochelle Liberman asked how Flescher knew the younger woman had been stabbed before to which Flescher responded, “She had already been injured, she was lying on the ground.”
On Tuesday at the outset of the jury trial, Godfrey Sig-Od pleaded guilty to manslaughter but the Crown rejected that plea and is proceeding with the first-degree murder charges.
In her opening address, Liberman told the jury that Godfrey Sig-Od stabbed his ex-wife and daughter to death and will argue the murders were planned and deliberate.
“‘I’ve been planning to kill you, it is my plan to kill you.’ This is what the accused Godfrey Sig-Od told his ex-wife Elvie in 2020. He told her he would take out her two eyes and he told her to enjoy driving her car. Sadly, in August 2022, Godfrey Sig-Od carried out his plan and killed Elvie and he killed her right outside of her car.
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“Elvie was not the only victim. He killed their daughter Angelica, too. Angelica had spoken to police two years before she was killed asking to get a restraining order against her father,” Liberaman said.
Flescher said after watching the man go between stabbing the first and second victim, the attacker then sat on the guardrail at the side of the road. Flescher recalled that the scene was chaotic, testifying there was screaming from bystanders and he was focused on the attacker, whom he and another man told not to move.
“I sort of made a decision in my head that I was not going to approach him because at that point, there was little purpose to approach him, wait for police to arrive. In essence, myself and the other gentleman were boxing him in to make sure he didn’t escape.”
Flescher said the second victim, the younger woman, started moving her hand and thought maybe he could help. “When I started walking towards her, the man picked up the knife. He had put the knife down and started coming towards me. He did not say anything,” said Flescher.
“As much as I wanted to help, I kept the distance of two lanes between us. As he took a step forwards, I took a step backwards.” When Liberman asked how he felt as Sig-Od was coming towards him, he replied “I felt afraid. I felt like my life was in danger. Like he was going to kill me.”
Flescher took his glasses off his face and put his hands over his eyes, before taking a deep breath.
Flescher testified the attacker then returned to the guardrail where he sat with a red little bag. “I was concerned maybe there was a gun in there. I was watching his hands. I was watching the bag and that went on for, it felt like a long time, it was only a minute or two.”
He then heard sirens coming and saw six or seven police cruisers racing down the hill. After he directed traffic to move out of the way so they could reach the scene, he testified the man stood up, walked towards the police, put his hands together so they could handcuff him, and was arrested. “There was no resistance whatsoever. They asked him to lie down on the ground, they handcuffed him and that was it.”
Flescher described the knife’s blade as around 10 inches and said it was not a usual butchering knife. “It seemed more like a hunting knife. It doesn’t have much use in a normal kitchen.”
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky asked Flescher if he recalled testifying during the preliminary inquiry that the man appeared to be in a “blind rage.”
After having his memory refreshed, Flescher explained what he meant.
“I didn’t hear him saying anything was the best way to describe it. He was not focused on anybody else except for repeatedly stabbing the victims. He was very focused on the act. The attacker seemed very angry, seemed very upset, seemed very vengeful, I guess. Very super focused on carrying out these stabbings and inflicting the most trauma possible.”
Flescher said by the time police arrived, the man had calmed down.
Witness Jose De Gouveia testified as he was driving northbound on Bathurst Street, he noticed a silver Lexus up in the southbound curb lane with three wheels up on the sidewalk. De Gouveia said he saw the driver’s and front passenger side doors open, at first thinking it was a medical incident.
He pulled into the Sherman Campus of the JCC and got out of his car to see the man making downward actions with his hands. “As I was looking through my rearview mirror, I saw the female being dragged out of the car, her white shirt over her head. I saw punches,” De Gouveia testified, saying that he thought it was a fight.
De Gouveia said he tried calling 911 three times before getting through on the fourth try. “As I got connected to 911, there was another downward motion and I saw her drop to the ground.”
He also said he saw another victim come out of the back seat on the driver’s side of the car who was also struck by the man in the chest before she dropped to the ground. De Gouveia testified he thought the women were being stabbed though he never saw a knife.
De Gouveia said after the attack, he also saw an elderly woman pull up in a white minivan and have a conversation with the suspect. “She screamed ‘I don’t believe you killed two people because she was cheating on you,’” he testified.
“At that time, I couldn’t even stand. My knees were shaking. I was blocking traffic so I proceeded to my car and I was surprised I got there because my knees, my nerves. I never witnessed anything like that.
Liberman told jurors that police officers are expected to testify that the blade of the knife was found in Godfrey Sig-Od’s belongings and the handle of the knife which was found in the backseat of Elvie’s car. They will also testify about the blood and strands of dark hair they found on the blade.
A forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies is expected to testify that both Elvie and Angelica died from stab wounds. Elvie had 14 stabs or cuts, including eight wounds to her torso and five to her face and forehead. Angelica was stabbed 19 times. She suffered six wounds to her torso, six to her upper limbs and seven to her head and neck.
The jury was told they will also hear from police officers from York Regional Police who met with Elvie and Angelica in 2020, two years before they were killed.
“Elvie and Angelica called police in October 2020 because they were afraid of Godfrey Sig-Od. They were interested in getting a restraining order against him,” said Liberman.
In November 2020, Liberman said a police officer is expected to testify that Elvie told him that Godfrey threatened to kill her. The video statement she provided to the officer is expected to be played in court.