Pubdate: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Lisa Lisle, Ottawa Sun ACCUSED KILLER JUST WANTED TO SELL DOPE A now-33-year-old Toronto man on trial for taking part in a botched home invasion that left another man dead, told police more than six years ago he only wanted to come to Ottawa to sell his drugs. A taped Aug. 30, 1995, statement Omar Marks made to police investigating the February 1994 shooting of Steve Tomlinson was played for the court yesterday in Marks' and 27-year-old Mark Farrell's manslaughter trial. It's the Crown's theory Marks and Farrell, along with Barrington Wilkins, came from Toronto to sell two pounds of marijuana to Tomlinson's roommate Neville Robinson. However, according to the theory, they arrived to learn that Robinson already had a pound of pot. Plan Hatched It's alleged the trio then hatched a plan to steal Robinson's marijuana. Wilkins is expected to tell the court that he waited in the car while Marks and Farrell went into the building when Tomlinson was shot. In his statement to police, Marks admits to coming from Toronto to sell two pounds of marijuana for about $5,000, but said it was Wilkins' idea. Before getting into Marks' story, he can be heard on the tape trying to work out a deal with police. The investigators told him he would get a maximum of five years in prison if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but Marks said he didn't participate in the killing so he shouldn't have to plead to the charge. Marks said the drugs were his, but Wilkins was setting up the deal with someone in Ottawa. However, Marks got suspicious of the deal as time went by, especially when the deal looked like it was falling apart. 'Tried To Stiff Him' Finally on the afternoon of the shooting, Marks said he waited in the car when Wilkins and Farrell went into the building where the deal was supposed to go down. Marks said Wilkins came back to the car wondering where Farrell was because he had left him in the building. When Farrell came back to the car, Marks said he learned that something had gone wrong. "These guys tried to stiff him," Marks said of his conversation with Farrell in the car. Marks said that Farrell told him one guy ran and another reached for his waist. "That's the one he shot," Marks said. The trial is expected to continue today. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake