Jack Daniel’s, bourbon, a can of Palm Bay, cigarettes: the kidnappers of Nicholas Tsouflidis would have treated their prisoner with care, without ever resorting to violence and even discussing philosophy. The account of the president of the restaurants Chez Cora was again questioned by the defense Thursday at the trial of Paul Zaidan.
” Is it likely what you’re saying? It is likely your story that the kidnappers gave you food, several types of alcohol, cigarettes. That they never hit you? », Insisted the lawyer of the accused, Mr.e Hovsep Dadaghalian, in close cross-examination of the key Crown witness.
The defense has struggled for two days to demonstrate that Nicholas Tsouflidis may never have been kidnapped by kidnappers in March 2017. Paul Zaidan, a former franchisee of Chez Cora, is accused of kidnapping and kidnapping Nicholas Tsouflidis and for having extorted his mother Cora Tsouflidou by demanding a ransom of 11 million dollars. However, the Crown does not hold “any direct evidence” implicating Paul Zaidan, but only “circumstantial evidence”.
According to his account, Nicholas Tsouflidis was kidnapped by three men on the evening of March 8, 2017. A bearded young man, who was not masked, managed to lure him outside his residence on the pretext of having lost his keys. Threatened by a gun, the businessman was thrown into the trunk of a vehicle. He then managed to call 911, because the kidnappers had not seized his cell phone.
Nicholas Tsouflidis maintains that he was chained for several hours in the basement of a residence by kidnappers claiming to be part of the “Lebanese mafia”. After discovering that he had called for help, the kidnappers finally “tamed” their prisoner in a ditch in Laval, where he was found the next day unharmed.
The witness maintains that he was never beaten by his captors during his captivity, even if they kept taunting them. “You are pockets! You are cellars! You are the worst bandits there is not! », Would have launched Nicholas Tsouflidis.
“You insult the kidnappers. You send them out for a walk and no one has touched a part of your hair? “Asked Me Dadaghalian.
“They didn’t beat me. I told them to free me. I was rude, I spoke loudly, I asked lots of questions. It worked, ”replied Nicholas Tsouflidis.
Nicholas Tsouflidis’s alcohol consumption was discussed at length on Thursday. The businessman claims to have been offered by his captors three types of alcohol, including bottoms of Jack Daniel’s and Wild Turkey. Even though he never drinks strong alcohol – and hardly any alcohol – Nicholas Tsouflidis says he drank straight from the bottle for quite a while. He was then “tipsy” to the point that he would not have been able to drive his car, he testified.
“There was a bottle already opened, and they brought me another bottle, it was like a bottom. I said: is there anyone who smokes? They gave me 1 or 2 cigarettes, I don’t remember that they gave me the package, ”the witness also explained.
“Was there music with that?” “, Then replied tit for tat the defense lawyer.
Nicholas Tsouflidis claims to have had “philosophical” discussions with his captors, who wore a mask from the film Scream, an Anonymous mask and a mask of an American president. The young mafiosi then told him to be “good guys” with “families”. “We don’t want to go to jail,” they allegedly told him.
On Wednesday, the defense tried to portray Nicholas Tsouflidis as an angry and harassing man by presenting messages sent by the witness to investigators: “Go shit bro! “,” You will burn, fuck you! “,” You are not good, the system is not good! “,” You are weak! “.
His cross-examination continues on Friday.
Since the start of the trial, little has been said about the accused Paul Zaidan. In his testimony, Nicholas Tsouflidis explained that he “removed” his sign from Chez Cora in 2015, because his restaurant in L’Île-des-Sœurs did not meet the standards of the chain.
According to the lawsuit theory, Paul Zaidan played a “role” in this whole affair. The police reportedly linked the accused to an electronic tablet that connected to an email address noted in the ransom letter. Paul Zaidan reportedly returned the tablet to a Best Buy store “at the same time” Mr. Tsouflidis was found, Crown Prosecutor M told the jury.e Sarah Beaudry-Leclerc.