Ottawa rapper who killed for fame testifies in own defence

Adrian Daou, the aspiring Vanier rapper who killed for fame, took the stand in his own defence this week and told the jury he was not criminally responsible for the 2010 axe killing of Jennifer Stewart.

Stewart, 36, was his “perfect score” to gain notoriety and hip-hop credibility.

Daou, who suffers from mental illness, told the jury he received instructions to kill from messages on the radio and a McDonald’s advertising slogan on a city bus. He mentioned the government and CIA in his testimony. He talked about delusions and hallucinations when advancing his defence that he wasn’t in the right state of mind to know what he was doing was wrong.

Daou was hoping to trade his life as a dishwasher and crack dealer for that of a “billionaire rap star,” so he lured the frail and tiny Stewart. At just 80 pounds, she was an easy target, the jury heard. He lured her on the pretext of a bogus drug deal in an Alice Street parking lot on Aug. 19, 2010, only to kill her in a surprise axe attack.

The killing of the Cree mother went unsolved until Daou confessed three years later after being in solitary confinement at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. He told police he wanted a bigger cell in federal prison to work on his rap lyrics and said he wanted to kill so he could nail down the “real killing rhymes.”

The first-degree murder case against Daou is anchored in his February 2013 confession to police after spending 22 days in solitary confinement at the notorious Innes Road jail, where he was serving a sentence for a drug conviction.

It would be the first in a series of confessions. Daou first said he used a military knife to kill Stewart when, in fact, the police theory was that she was killed with an axe. Police didn’t recover the weapon and had no DNA linking Daou to the killing. He has since said he, in fact, killed with an axe that he bought at a Canadian Tire store. Police were unable to secure security video of the transaction, and Daou said he paid cash for the weapon.

Daou was happy to be out of solitary confinement and down at the Ottawa Police Service headquarters on Elgin Street. After being fed through a hatch in solitary confinement, the food, drink and hospitality in Interrogation Room 216 was, in his own words, awesome. Daou even told Det. John Monette that he was like his best bud in the world. He felt at home.

There was Pepsi, too many coffees and then, right after he was given his right to contact a lawyer, pizza. The cops ordered it from the famed Colonnade Pizza on Metcalfe Street, where they have windows along the sidewalk for folks to watch the magic of flipping dough.

After the confession, Daou was charged with murder in the first degree. He again found himself in solitary confinement at the Ottawa jail and was desperate for a transfer to a bigger cell in federal prison.

So, nine days after offering his confession, Daou confessed to another murder, only this time Ottawa police didn’t buy it because that homicide had already been solved through DNA evidence. (Daou had no link to that the killing and was never charged in connection with it.)

The bizarre motive has been explored in detail at trial, with Assistant Crown Attorney Louise Tansey telling the jury that Daou wanted more in life, something beyond washing dishes and selling crack.

“He wanted to be a rap star. He believed that murder would open a door to that world. He wanted to get paid, as he put it. He believed being a killer would help him achieve his goal,” Tansey said.

Daou, now 32, has pleaded not guilty to the vicious axe killing of Stewart.

The prosecutor told the jury that Stewart tried in vain to defend herself. When her body was discovered in a parking lot by a dog walker the next morning — Aug. 20, 2010 — her wrists were almost severed and her skull was shattered.

“Daou has aspired to be more. He wanted infamy. He desired respect. And so, in February 2013, while serving a sentence for drug dealing, Daou decided to reveal the identity of Jennifer Stewart’s killer and claim the notoriety he craved,” Tansey said.

The prosecutor then read an excerpt from a transcript of Daou’s videotaped police confession.

“I’m not happy with it, but I just have to take my responsibility and tell people like who I am really. Yes, I killed for my own gain,” Daou told police.

Daou is representing himself and has Samantha Robinson as amicus, with Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips presiding.

It will be up the jury to decide if Daou is guilty of anything or not criminally responsible.

gdimmock@postmedia.com