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On the afternoon of August 26, 2022, Soula Berdoussis encountered a distressing scene while driving down Bathurst Street near the Sherman campus. As a driver for “Circle of Care,” responsible for transporting individuals to medical appointments, she was hurrying to pick up a client when she came across what appeared to be a chaotic accident.
Initially struck by the sight of scattered vehicles and people lingering in the street, Berdoussis quickly recognized that the situation was far more grave than a mere collision. “I started honking and then I saw bodies, two bodies, and then I stopped in front of one body,” she recounted during her testimony in a Toronto courtroom. According to her, one body lay in the road with its head on the sidewalk, while the other was closer to the guardrail.
Berdoussis is among several civilian witnesses providing testimony in the trial of 48-year-old Godfrey Sig-Od, who faces two charges of first-degree murder concerning the deaths of his ex-wife, Elvie Sig-Od, 44, and daughter, Angelica Sig-Od, 20.
At the trial’s commencement, Sig-Od entered a guilty plea for manslaughter. However, assistant Crown prosecutor Rochelle Liberman informed jurors that the prosecution would pursue the more severe first-degree murder charges. Liberman asserted that the evidence would indicate that Sig-Od had premeditated the killings, suggesting a calculated intent behind his actions.
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During her testimony, Berdoussis described the moment she exited her minivan, moving urgently towards the bleeding woman on the ground. Upon reaching her, Berdoussis noticed visible injuries and expressed her belief that the situation could not have been a simple accident. “I got to the body and I looked at her face. She had marks on her face and to me, it didn’t look like an accident,” she stated.
Turning her attention to the second body, she observed a white shirt covering the head and two wounds at the back. In her shock, she shared her disbelief with another bystander. “What the f…? This is not an accident,’ or, ‘What the hell happened here? This is not an accident,’” she recalled. In a chilling exchange, the man admitted, “I killed her because she cheated.” Berdoussis was taken aback by this revelation, reiterating the startling statement in her own words.
As she interacted with the man, whom she described as wearing black shoes and white socks, Berdoussis felt a surge of fear. “I thought, ‘This is when I die,’” she said, recalling how quickly her life flashed before her eyes. Summoning her courage, she demanded that he not move, to which he responded, “OK, OK.”
Berdoussis then inquired with bystanders whether the man had shot the two women, only to learn that they had been stabbed. Shortly after, several police vehicles arrived at the scene. “One police car came and stopped in front of me. I said, ‘Officer, he just confessed. He said, “I killed her because she cheated.”’” The arrival of law enforcement triggered a physical reaction in Berdoussis, leaving her trembling from the trauma of what she had witnessed.
In cross-examination, defense attorney Daniel Brodsky queried her awareness of the man involved. Berdoussis maintained that her primary focus was to assist the injured women. “My main goal was to save that person because I did think he was still breathing,” she affirmed.
The proceedings of the trial are ongoing.
Source
globalnews.ca