» Man who denies driving in fatal boat crash has long record

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Eddie Denkha has a pretty “horrible” driving record — one that, officially at least, includes the dangerous operation of a boat.

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But does that make him the more likely suspect behind the wheel of the boat that smashed into a breakwall just before midnight on May 31, 2022, claiming the lives of two passengers?

That was certainly the argument of the defence lawyer for the man who is actually on trial, Filip Grkovski.

Holding his ground, Denkha, 43, maintained it was his friend who crashed his 30-foot craft. After a late afternoon and night of drinking and doing drugs while partying during a tie-up with other boats on the lake, he said Grkovski became enraged following yet another heated argument with his girlfriend and was driving too fast as they headed back to the marina.

At his judge-alone trial, Grkovski, 41, has pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, including two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of impaired operation causing death. Megan Wu, 24, of Newmarket, and Julio Abrantes, 34, of Richmond Hill, drowned after the boat flipped following the crash near Tommy Thompson Park. Eight others, including Denkha and Grkovski, survived.

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At least two of those aboard have identified Denkha as the driver shortly before the boat slammed into the rocks. Kelly Yuanying Zeng testified Monday she was acting as a mediator between the fighting couple and had asked Grkovski to go down into the cabin to talk to his upset girlfriend, Vanessa.

According to Zeng, Grkovski asked Denkha to take over the controls of his boat while he went to speak with her. “Eddie agreed to drive.”

After a few uncomfortable minutes standing beside Denkha, whom she didn’t know, Zeng said she returned below. Less than a minute after Grkovski went back up to the deck, she said, there was a “huge bang” and they capsized.

Denkha has testified that he declined to take the wheel at that point and it was an angry Grkovski who returned to the controls, swearing about his girlfriend and suddenly “flooring” it.

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Passenger Zaynab Altakawee testified she had dozed off on their way back to the marina with Grkovski driving and then awoke to find Denkha behind the wheel. She went down to the washroom and within minutes, the boat crashed.

Under cross examination, Denkha insisted Altakawee was lying and there was a conspiracy to pin the blame on him.

“I promise it was Filip driving,” he said, insisting he was sitting beside Abrantes and Wu before they capsized. “Thank God, I came out alive, too. Filip was operating the boat.”

Grkovski’s lawyer Alan Gold accused him of being the real skipper at the time.

He confronted him with his criminal record, which Denkha hadn’t disclosed, that included a 2001 conviction in Chatham for dangerous operation of a vessel. “Is that not the most amazing coincidence? Or, in fact, is the universe not trying to tell us that you haven’t been convicted of that yet, but you should be? That is an amazing coincidence, isn’t it?”

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The witness said it was a mistake, that he’d been stopped by the OPP on his way back from Windsor and he was driving a car, not a boat. He hadn’t disclosed it, he explained, because he’d received a record suspension and thought that meant it had all been “wiped clean.”

Gold sounded dubious — especially since the Criminal Code section at the time that was cited in his conviction refers to the dangerous operation of a boat.

The defence lawyer then took Denkha through his “horrible” and very lengthy driving record, which included convictions for dangerous driving in 2001, driving while suspended, and numerous Highway Traffic Act convictions for speeding — one for double a street’s 50 km/h speed limit.

“You simply have no respect for the rules regarding operation of a conveyance, do you? Do you?” Gold charged.

“I do. At that point I was young,” he replied. “I don’t want you comparing my record from 15-20 years ago. I’ve changed a lot.”

Crown attorneys Jordan Howard and Jackson Foreman are expected to close their case Tuesday. Will Grkovski then take the stand?

mmandel@postmedia.com

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