'Everyone's been so great'; Family prepares to bury driver with killer at large

From the Kingston Whig-Standard website

Rob Tripp
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Local news - Police are searching for clues to the killer of a Kingston cab driver in the victim's taxi.

The blood-smeared car was found roughly eight blocks away from David Krick, 50, who was murdered early Sunday morning.

Brenda Krick, the victim's sister, said the family has been told by police that "the car is being sent for high-tech forensic investigation."

Police have told them little else about the investigation, except that they have suspects, she said.

It is typical in a homicide probe that investigators would attempt to find hairs, fibres and organic material in a vehicle that that might later provide a DNA match to a suspect or lead to a suspect during the investigation.

The Amey's cabbie picked up a single male passenger on Wright Crescent just before 6:45 a.m. Sunday. A few minutes later, Krick activated a silent alarm that notified his dispatcher of an emergency.

Minutes later, Krick was found lying on the sidewalk in front of a home on Durham Street, bleeding profusely from several stab wounds to his chest.

He was pronounced dead at hospital.

His taxi was apparently stolen by his attacker and abandoned at an apartment complex on Van Order Drive.

Because the car was equipped with satellite tracking technology, its movements were monitored by staff at the Amey's dispatch centre. A detailed report showing the car's route that morning, speed and stops was given to police by the taxi company.

Police followed the car to the apartment building but a suspect eluded them on foot.

Blood smears and bloody fingerprints were visible on the rear passenger side of the taxi. It's unclear if Krick was stabbed in the car.

It is likely that forensic investigators are looking for blood throughout the vehicle and attempting to extract a DNA profile from the blood on the car's exterior.

Brenda Krick wonders if the bloody fingerprints belong to her brother, indicating perhaps that he was stabbed while he was outside the car, on the passenger side.

"Maybe the guy got mouthy with my brother, my brother wanted him to get out, he stopped the car and went around to that side," she said. Krick said the body was released to the Tompkins Funeral Home on Colborne Street late Monday and the family has made arrangements for services.

Visitation will be held today from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., tomorrow from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A funeral that is open to the community will be held at 11 a.m. Friday .

"David's got lots of cab driver friends," his sister said. "I don't think I want to keep anything private."

He will be buried near his father at Glenhaven Memorial Gardens, precisely eight years after his father Norman's death by heart-related problems.

"We're burying my brother on the day that my father died," Krick said.

She said the loss may be just hitting her mother.

"I imagine it will be between seven and nine when the reality hits," she said. "She keeps looking out the window, waiting for him to come home."

Krick said the family is grateful for all of the support it has received.

"The lady whose house David was found in front of, she dropped off a vase of flowers and was saying she just had to do something," she said. "Everyone's been so great."

Krick, who had been driving a taxi since he was 19 years old, also worked at Benson Autoparts. He was a member of Legion Branch 9 in Kingston. He played golf, pool, darts and euchre.

He was described by his boss at Amey's Taxi as a "wonderful guy."

Police have not indicated any motive in his murder.

rtripp@thewhig.com