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A teenager accused of murdering Lincoln man Sam Davies told police he saw the killing happen and was prepared to “snitch” on his friend, a jury heard today.
Eric Kesel, 19, is one of seven city males on trial for murder. He was arrested after being seen on CCTV running towards his home moments after Mr Davies had been stabbed twice in a park between Browning Drive and Coleridge Gardens.
In police interview a couple of days after the attack on May 27 last year, Kesel said he was prepared to “snitch” on Eimantas Gochman, 20.
“My friend is my friend but he’s wrong for killing somebody,” Kesel told detectives.
“God gives you one life, you’re not meant to be taking people’s lives. This s*** is not a joke.
“Even if it was my dad and he killed someone, like ‘what you doing, man?’, I’m snitching on my dad, bro.”
Kesel said in the interview, read out to the jury at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday, January 26, that he had just left a friend’s house in Coleridge Gardens and was close to the park when he saw the attack.
He described in detail how he saw someone dressed all in black and wearing a black face mask stab Mr Davies once and shout: “You’re ****ing dead.”
Kesel said Mr Davies was stumbling and asked his attacker: “What have I done?”
According to Kesel, the man did not reply, put the knife back in its cover and then down his trousers before running off towards Browning Drive.
Kesel initially told police he thought he had seen the attacker before because he only knew two or three men that tall.
Then, towards the end of the interview, he said: “What if I told you who I think did it?”
He went on to name Gochman and said he had seen him with the knife before and he recognised his voice.
Kesel told the detectives he didn’t stop to help the victim but ran home and immediately told his girlfriend of the “madness” he had seen.
He said Gochman had not spotted him at the scene but claimed he sent Gochman a Snapchat message the following day saying his street had been taped off and the reply was “LOL”.
Kesel also described overhearing a chat in the street when Gochman was telling an unknown man that he had “done the deed” and “dashed” (hidden) the knife in the grounds of the nearby Our
Lady Church.
Flowers left in tribute of Lincoln stabbing victim Sam Davies. | Photo: The Lincolnite
The stabbing, Kesel told detectives, had been ordered as a result of Mr Davies robbing someone in Coventry of “loads of money”. He said the fee for the hit was £5,000 but Gochman was possibly expecting more because the victim had died.
Kesel added: “That’s the only way someone is going to get killed nowadays – over drugs or money.”
Meanwhile, one of the men accused of arranging the stabbing told police he did not know the 23-year-old victim.
Daniel Heydari, 25, is said to have instigated the attack on Mr Davies with co-defendant Joe Jameson, 24.
The jury heard a transcript of Heydari’s first police interview, shortly after he had been arrested at Jameson’s house on May 28 last year.
Mr Davies died in hospital in the early hours of that day.
William Harbage QC, prosecuting, told the jury Heydari, like all the defendants, had been
interviewed under police caution.
Heydari was asked if he had heard of Sam Davies.
“No, not really,” he replied. “I’ve got mates called Sam Davies. I don’t know which Sam Davies you’re talking about.”
Following a description of the stabbing victim, Heydari said he didn’t know him.
Heydari described being in a “bad mood” on the day of the attack due to the stress of an intensive driving test he was due to be taking shortly.
He said there had been several bits of phone contact between him and Jameson.
Heydari told the detectives he was at home at the time of the attack, having had a takeaway delivered.
The following morning he had gone to Jameson’s at about 11.30am after a three-hour driving lesson.
“I’d been at Joe’s about five to ten minutes. Then I opened the door and there’s guns in my face,” he added, describing the moment police arrived.
The defendants all deny one count of murder. They are Billy Gill, 21, of Hatcliffe Gardens; Daniel Heydari, 25, of Chestnut Street; Joe Jameson, 24, of Whitehall Terrace; Eimantas Gochman, 20, of Sturton Close; Eric Kesel, 19, of Browning Drive; and Charlie Wakefield, 21, of Broxholme Gardens. A 17-year-old male cannot be legally identified due to his age. Jameson is also accused of making a threat to kill, which he denies.
The trial continues.
