Pubdate: Thu, 22 Nov 2001
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2001 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Jake Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen

WITNESS TOLD POLICE OF BOTCHED MARIJUANA DEAL

Came To Ottawa To Sell Kilogram Of Marijuana For $5,000

Eighteen months after Steven "Lickshot" Tomlinson was killed in what the 
Crown contends was a drug related robbery, one of the men accused of 
manslaughter in the case sat down with police and said they had the story 
wrong.

In his taped statement to police, Omar Marks says he, Mark Farrell, 27, and 
Barrington "Jimbo" Wilkins came to Ottawa from Toronto to make a drug deal 
with men nicknamed Governor and Pecos.

He said Mr. Wilkins was the driving force behind the deal, and said he 
tried to back out several times because Mr. Wilkins seemed to be lying to 
him and wouldn't let him talk to the men who were to buy his kilogram of 
marijuana for $5,000.

"I tell him (Jimbo) straight up, I'm going be travelling with a weapon," 
Mr. Marks said on the tape played at his trial yesterday. "Because anything 
could be flickyness," (a problem).

Mr. Marks said he spent two days regretting he was in Ottawa because Mr. 
Wilkins kept delaying things. He said they once went to the Meadowlands 
Drive apartment building where the deal was supposed to go down.

Mr. Wilkins went in and came back, saying one of the people who was to buy 
the drugs wasn't there.

After some more strange behaviour by Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Marks said he just 
wanted to go back to Toronto, but agreed to go back to the apartment again 
for one more try at selling his marijuana.

He said he didn't go in the building, but Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Farrell did. 
He said, after waiting about five minutes, Mr. Wilkins returned to the car 
and asked if Mr. Farrell was back.

Mr. Marks said he asked Mr. Wilkins why he was back, because Mr. Farrell 
didn't know these people, and Mr. Wilkins said he'd left Mr. Farrell 
talking to the men and went to visit somebody in another building.

Five minutes later, Mr. Farrell came back to the car.

"Mark came back and told me that ... there was two guys," Mr. Marks says on 
the tape. "They tried some flickyness. He told me: one run, and ... one dip 
for his waist, and he have to ended up shooting the guy."

Mr. Tomlinson was shot once in the face in the stairwell of 1165 
Meadowlands Dr. on Feb. 1, 1994 outside the door of Neville "Rawbo" 
Robinson's apartment. He died almost instantly.

Mr. Farrell, 27, and Mr. Marks, 33, were convicted of manslaughter by a 
jury five years ago for the killing.

However, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial. This one is in 
front of Justice Colin McKinnon without a jury. The Crown's theory is the 
trio came to Ottawa to rob the men in Mr. Robinson's apartment, and Mr. 
Tomlinson died because he walked out of the apartment just as the robbery 
was to go down.

Mr. Robinson has since died, so his testimony at the first trial was 
entered as evidence at this trial. He said there were no drug deals planned 
for the night he, Glendon "Natty" Davidson, Donald "Pecos" McKenzie, and 
Mr. Tomlinson were hanging out in his apartment.

Mr. Davidson has testified he had about a half kilogram of marijuana on him 
that night, but wasn't planning to sell any.

He said he and Mr. Tomlinson left the apartment to get some juice and 
rolling papers and were ambushed by a masked gunman.
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