Li says she’s stupid for following Karafa, but she’s not a killer
Evidence complete at the trial of duo for first-degree murder and attempted murder
The Crown says Lucy Li is clever and a liar, but she says she’s stupid for marrying a man capable of murder and staying with him despite “red flags.”
“I don’t think I’m clever sitting here today,” Li said during her final minutes of testifying. “I think I’m the stupidest person in this room and maybe in the world.”
Li said she married a man who shot a pregnant woman and a man and then, after missing so many red flags, continued to be with him and love him.
“I feel like an idiot right now,” she said.
Li and Oliver Karafa are jointly charged with the first-degree murder of Tyler Pratt and the attempted murder of Jordyn Romano, who were shot at 347 Arvin Ave. on Feb. 28, 2021. Both have pleaded not guilty.
After a week on the stand, Li wrapped up her testimony late Friday morning. She was the only witness called by her defence lawyer Liam O’Connor. Karafa did not call any witnesses. That means all the evidence is in.
Court also heard Friday that Karafa admits to having a cellphone while he was in jail in Budapest, Hungary, where the couple was arrested several months following the shooting. Li previously testified that she waived extradition and came back to Canada before Karafa, but that he contacted her on the phone and was pressuring her to fire her lawyer and work with him.
Over the last five weeks, court has heard Pratt and Romano had invested about $470,000 in a business of Karafa’s selling personal protective equipment in Europe. Despite promises of big profits, they never got money back, with Karafa allegedly telling them the money was tied up in Europe.
Li testified she had four meetings with Pratt and Romano about brokering a $1.5-million life insurance policy. Li said she initially approached the meetings earnestly, but after the second meeting realized that Pratt had no assets in his name. Pratt, who court has heard was a cocaine trafficker, had cash, which Li said would inevitably mean they would be rejected in their insurance application.
She nonetheless went ahead with a fraudulent application, which she claims she never intended to submit, at Karafa’s request to buy him more time to sort out his PPE business, she said.
On the day of the shooting, Li, who often drove Karafa because he was a prohibited driver, helped him to buy a friend’s Audi Q5 that he planned to sell. She drove Karafa in that Audi to Stoney Creek for what she believed was a meeting with Pratt and Romano over a potential marijuana growing business. Li said she was only supposed to drop Karafa off, but stayed because she believed Karafa was going to cheat on her.
During cross-examination, assistant Crown attorney Mark Dean suggested multiple times that while Karafa pulled the trigger, Li was part of the plot the entire time, including the insurance scheme and steps taken to avoid detection on the day of the shooting. They eventually fled Hamilton in Romano’s Range Rover, which Karafa was allegedly planning to sell, before disposing of evidence and flying to Europe.
Li repeatedly said that the Crown’s theory that she was part of the murder plot was “ridiculous.”
On Friday, she said it’s ridiculous because she would never plan to kill anybody and had she known about the plot she would have put a stop to it.
She said she didn’t witness the shooting, but heard the pops when she was around the back of the Arvin Avenue property. As she fled with Karafa, she said he initially told her it was self-defence and that they were in danger, but later in Europe she said he confessed to her that the PPE business wasn’t doing well and he decided to kill Pratt and Romano before Pratt learned he wouldn’t be getting the money promised. Li claimed that Karafa told her that he feared Pratt — who court has heard had alleged ties to biker gangs — would kill him or people he loved when he found out.
The case will proceed with closing submissions Thursday.