VANCOUVER - In eight terrifying days of captivity Graham McMynn was never sure whether his kidnappers were serious about harming or killing him.

The son of a wealthy Vancouver businessman was snatched from his car in April 2006 on his way to university and shuffled among three hideouts before being rescued in a massive police operation.

In his second day of testimony at the trial of five alleged kidnappers, McMynn said Tuesday that one man wanted to chop off a hand while another warned that if his family didn't ransom him, he would be killed.

McMynn, now 24, sometimes grinned nervously as he recounted his ordeal of being taken at gunpoint, then bound and blindfolded much of the time while trying to get an idea of his captors' plans.

After being blindfolded with duct tape, later augmented by a tuque, handcuffed and hobbled by plastic zip ties, McMynn spent his first three days in a closet wearing only his underpants.

One of his kidnappers said they planned to rape him, then laughed, McMynn said.

McMynn testified he overheard a cell-phone call when a kidnapper he described as having a high-pitched voice mentioned something about "his hands and his eyes.''

"He opened the closet door and said, `Get on your knees,' '' McMynn told Crown prosecutor Richard Cairns.

When McMynn asked why, the kidnapper said he had to chop off a hand, then laughed.

McMynn said he protested and curled himself into a ball in the closet.

After being transferred to a second house, McMynn listened to a discussion among the kidnappers that gave the impression he would be killed if no ransom was paid.

But the man he assumed was the gang's leader said ransom or no ransom, he would be let go. The group had been hired to grab McMynn, he said, and it had already been paid.

More detail emerged from the man with the high-pitched voice.

"He told me that they were basically contracted by another group to pick me up and hold me, and the other group would be dealing with getting money from my parents,'' McMynn testified.

It was clear he had been targeted, he said, because the leader told him the group was ordered to pick up the guy with the blue Volkswagen Golf.

McMynn's ordeal began when his car was blocked by the kidnappers as he and his girlfriend drove to the University of British Columbia and he was taken at gunpoint.

Although the kidnappers apparently weren't in charge of the ransom negotiation, McMynn said the leader of the group asked whether his family would pay to get him back.

"I told them if they could, my dad would definitely do that,'' McMynn said.

McMynn said they could probably manage $100,000 but $500,000 would be hard and $1 million would require some time to figure out.

The leader suggested his father could simply sell his business to raise the cash.

"He was under the impression you could sell a business at the drop of a hat,'' McMynn said.

If the ransom was paid, McMynn said he was told he'd be freed in a public place but warned to keep his blindfold on until the count of 60. He'd be watched, his captors said, and if he disobeyed they'd return to beat him up.

Despite pleas from McMynn's family, the kidnappers never demanded any ransom.

Anh The Nguyen, Van Van Vu, Joshua Ponicappo, Jose Hernandez, and Sam Taun Vu -- all then between 19 and 22 years old when they were arrested -- are charged with one count each of kidnapping and unlawful confinement.

They're being tried in B.C. Supreme Court by judge alone before Justice Arne Silverman.

The surreal nature of McMynn's captivity came out in his testimony.

McMynn said he was once allowed to join his captors while they were watching a Vancouver Canucks hockey game on TV but could only listen because they didn't remove the blindfold.

They fed him fast food and Asian cooking, at one point uncuffing his hands so he could use chopsticks.

Another time, he said, they were smoking marijuana and asked him if he'd ever tried it. No, he said, and declined their offer until they insisted.

"Did you inhale?'' Cairns asked.

"I coughed and I got laughed at,'' said McMynn.

But the kidnappers also complained about their supposed allies, the group in charge of the ransoming process. If he was turned over to them, they would starve him to keep him weak, McMynn was told.

"Don't ask them questions,'' McMynn was advised. "Because they're going to hurt you if you ask questions.''

At one point his captors talked about attacking the other group to take control and deal directly with McMynn's family, he said.

Outside court, defence lawyer Lawrence Myers said there's no evidence a second group existed and McMynn may have been told the story as a way to control him.

Myers called McMynn "an impressive witness.''

"He's got a very good memory and great attention to detail,'' said Myers, who has said the Crown must still prove the accused were involved in the kidnapping, not merely present at locations where he was held.

About 400 officers were involved in the investigation that had police trace the kidnap vehicle to a rental car agency and put surveillance on the leader because McMynn's girlfriend remembered the licence number.