'I snapped,' Bakdash allegedly told friend

Ken Nelson said he could only stare dumbfounded when Tim Bakdash told him what he had done.

"Ken, I really [messed] up," Bakdash allegedly said, telling his co-worker that he'd drunkenly hit someone with his car in Dinkytown just hours before. "I snapped. It's all over the Internet."

Nelson testified on Wednesday during Bakdash's murder trial that he urged Bakdash to turn himself in but that Bakdash refused because he didn't want to go to jail. Besides, Bakdash allegedly told Nelson, whoever was hit had it coming.

"He shouldn't have been mocking me," Nelson said Bakdash told him about the stranger who tried to pick a fight with him before he ran over a group of University of Minnesota students walking home from Dinkytown bars about 2 a.m. Benjamin Van Handel, 23, died of brain injuries five days later.

Sarah Bagley and Katelynn Hanson, both 21 at the time, were seriously injured.

But Bakdash, 29, also expressed remorse, Nelson testified, allegedly saying, "I didn't mean to hit the girl."

Nelson and Pat Green, the owner of Professional Wireless Communications in Burnsville, testified on Wednesday that they were waiting for Bakdash to turn himself in. When he didn't, Nelson tried repeatedly to contact the Minneapolis Police Department through a tip line. When he still didn't turn himself in, Green made a final call five days after the incident that resulted in Bakdash's arrest.

Bakdash, of Roseville, is accused of first-degree murder and attempted murder for allegedly intentionally hitting the three students with his car early on the morning of April 15. His attorney, Joe Tamburino, said he meant only to scare a group of men who had taunted him but hit the students in a case of mistaken identity.

In cross-examination, Tamburino pointed out that Bakdash never said "I wanted someone dead" or "I wanted to kill someone," signaling premeditation.

Nelson testified that he called Bakdash two days after the accident when he learned he hadn't turned himself in. Bakdash allegedly told him he was off his medication and had made up the story about being the driver. Nelson, frustrated, hung up on Bakdash.

In a letter Bakdash sent Green from jail some time later, he asked his boss whether he would route his final two paychecks into his bank account, as well as money for the remainder of his vacation time because he needed every dollar to help pay for attorney fees. He told Green he could give his tools to his fellow co-workers, with one caveat. "Please don't ever let Ken Nelson ever use any of my tools."