‘I thought he was going to kill me’: Orillia man on trial for murder told police in 2023 interview

A Barrie jury was played the video statement Brian Lancaster gave to police after his Dec. 2023 arrest

A Barrie jury was played the video statement Brian Lancaster gave to police after his Dec. 2023 arrest after he was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 25-year-old Kyle Farrows in Orillia. RELATED: Brian Lancaster stands trial In the video Lancaster is heard telling police he and then-girlfriend Mackenzie Harrod relapsed and were using crack and needed a place to stay.

Farrows was her former boyfriend and the couple told him Lancaster was her older brother. Lancaster told police he did not remember what happened that night and was hearing sirens in his head as he sat in the interview room following his Dec. 18, 2023 arrest. “I know what happened and I don’t know what happened,” Lancaster told the officer.

He said he woke up to hearing Harrod screaming and intervened. Lancaster told police he saw that Farrows was going to rape Harrod while holding a knife to her throat. “I thought he was going to kill me,” Lancaster told the officer while sobbing.

Lancaster said he did not remember what happened after that because he blacked out. Farrows was found dead with about two dozen stab wounds and cuts to his chest. He was discovered in his bed covered in blood nearly a full day later by a friend who had a key to the apartment and was previously told by Harrod and Lancaster that Farrows left after having a mental breakdown.

The court was shown video surveillance of the scene that captured movements around Farrows’ apartment along Andrew Street in downtown Orillia. The video showed several people including Lancaster, Harrod, and Farrows entering and leaving the apartment a handful of times between December 13 and 14. Farrows returned to the apartment after walking a dog a few hours prior to his death.

Lancaster emerged from the apartment at about 3:22 a.m. After returning to the apartment, Lancaster was seen on camera four hours later exiting the unit with Harrod, who then returned with the woman later that afternoon. R ELATED: Pair charged with second-degree murder in Orillia man’s death Lancaster and Harrod were seen leaving the apartment in a taxi at about 3:15 p.m. with the woman and another man who had rented them a hotel room nearby. Police did not arrive on scene until 11:35 p.m. when the woman found her friend’s lifeless body after returning to the unit to check on him.

Lancaster told police the woman said she would “deal with the body” and police and claimed she “thanked” him for killing Farrows who had previously sexually violated her several times. Police said Lancaster and Harrod were seen a day later walking into a wooded area where bloody clothes were found. R ELATED: Preliminary hearing begins for man accused in Orillia murder case Lancaster told the detective he had grabbed the knife from Farrows but could not remember anything more.

Lancaster’s blue sweater was found with his blood on it. He was later seen on security cameras wearing different clothing. Lancaster told police he wasn’t sure what kind of knife Farrows had in his hand.

He said both he and Harrod stabbed Farrows after she hit Farrows in the head with a bong to help Lancaster gain the upper hand in the fight. Lancaster told the officer he had never met Farrows prior to that night and had no intention to kill him while protecting Harrod, from her former partner. Harrod pleaded guilty earlier this year to being an accessory-after-the-fact to murder and was sentenced to house arrest.

Ont. woman charged with murder takes plea deal ahead of Orillia stabbing trial The trial is scheduled to continue Monday when it is expected Harrod will take the witness stand.