Ex-Helix guitarist repeatedly threatened before he was killed: Detective
Craig Allan, 50, is on trial for Daniel Fawcett’s stabbing on Nov. 6, 2022
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The text messages found on Daniel Fawcett’s cell phone appeared to leave a breadcrumb trail to follow to his final moments.
There were weeks of conversations found by the police between Fawcett and an associate who was a friend of Craig Allan, 50, the man on trial for Fawcett’s death.
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Those final messages directed Fawcett to head to Gibbons Park where his body was found hours later partially covered in leaves at the base of a large hill. He had died from a stab wound to the heart.
The text messages were the focus Thursday at Allan’s Superior Court judge-alone trial where he has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of the 52-year-old London musician who once played with the Canadian hard rock band Helix.
London police Det. Const. Blake Morrison guided the court through the messages. Police found 1,792 texts between Fawcett and Allan’s associate, some of them threatening. Also logged were a flurry of short phone calls between them in the days before and on the day he was stabbed to death.
Morrison presented messages that were found on Fawcett and Allan’s friend’s phone dating back two months before Fawcett’s death. Some of the messages were threatening and accusing Fawcett of various crimes.
“Pay your debts and maybe save your life,” one message to Fawcett from the associate read. “U r a patheric excuse for a human. Waste of space and oxygen.”
Other messages referred to “Chili,” which was Allan’s nickname. Some messages said that the words were coming from Chili, not the associate, including one in September 2022 that threatened violence for alleged crimes committed against the associate.
On Nov. 1, 2022, a message on the associate’s phone sent to Fawcett again spoke of possible criminal activity and threatened violence and “murder… not a threat, a promise.” Two days before Fawcett’s death, the associate sent several messages, demanding Fawcett call as soon as possible.
“Where u at. Me and Chili need you to help,” one of the messages said.
The heated language was kept up the next day in the exchanges where the associate appeared to be so angry at Fawcett for contacting them that they said to “stop emailing me (or) I’m going to throw you off your (expletive) balcony once and for all.”
However, Fawcett and the associate were texting and calling back and forth just before his death. It appeared they had arranged to meet at the park. In the Crown’s opening statement earlier this week, it might have been over drugs.
“My bag is stashed in the bush in here but I’m (afraid) of coyotes and (expletive) in the dark,” the associate wrote. “I’m just now walking through the parking lot u know where we met Chili for his car battery that night?”
Fawcett wrote back. “Kinda. I’m gonna start walking. No wifi tho. Or you want me to stay here?”
“Don’t leave then so I can get to the street to see what (expletive) street to meet on. Give me 40 seconds,” the associate wrote back. It was the last message sent.
Justice Patricia Moore also heard that no cell phone was seized from Allan at the time of his arrest several days later in Woodbridge.
However, on his Facebook page, he introduced himself with “Cut their throats before they cut yours. Watch what you do from now on. Chili is officially coming.”
Earlier this week, Moore also heard from London police investigating officer Stephen Robertson that a knife was not recovered in the case, despite having a good description during police statements taken from Allen.
He and the associate had fled London in a stolen car after the stabbing and said the knife was thrown out the car window somewhere between Veterans Memorial Parkway and Woodstock along Highway 2.
For several weeks, police officers scoured the ditches but didn’t recover the knife they were looking for.
The trial continues on Friday.
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