A jury in Dartmouth, N.S. has found Adam Drake, 34, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of battle rapper Pat Stay.
Stay was stabbed inside a Halifax nightclub in the early morning hours of Sept. 4, 2022.
The jury reached their decision in under 24 hours. Deliberations began at around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The trial had centred around surveillance footage from the club, which the Crown and defence interpreted differently.
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The defence argued the video doesn’t show Drake stabbing the popular rapper, while the Crown used a process of elimination argument to conclude no one but Drake was in a position to stab Stay at the time.
After the jury was sequestered, the publication ban on the verdict in the Tyler Keizer murder was lifted. The ban was in place to ensure a fair trial for Drake in the Stay case.
What the jury didn’t know was that Drake was found guilty on Oct. 25, 2024, of first-degree murder in the death of Keizer and is currently serving a life sentence.
Keizer, 27, was shot while sitting in his vehicle at the corner of Gottingen and Falkland streets in November 2016.
Drake was charged in 2019 for that crime, but the charge was withdrawn by the Crown in October 2021 — just days before the trial was set to begin.
Stay was killed a year later in September 2022.
Prosecutors reinstated the charge for Keizer’s murder in October 2022, after Drake was charged in Stay’s death.
More to come
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