'I just wanted him to surrender': Peter Khill tells jury about the moment he shot Jon Styres
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
"They're here."
Peter Khill testified Wednesday those words were the first to enter his mind after hearing bangs outside of his home in the middle of a cold February night in 2016.
The bangs came just days after he said he changed the locks on his doors after his girlfriend told him she heard what might've been someone trying to break in.
"I didn't know how many people there were or what they wanted," Khill said in court.
"I just wanted to gain control of the situation … I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to become a victim, [that Melinda] wasn't going to become a victim."
Not long after that, the former reservist shot Jon Styres to death.
Styres, a Six Nations man, was alone outside the house, trying to steal Khill's truck.
Seven days into his second-degree murder trial, Khill took the stand after Crown attorneys finished presenting their case.
While the jury already knows Khill claims he was trying to defend his and his then-girlfriend Melinda Khill, Wednesday was the first time they heard directly from the man himself.
The number of jurors also fell from 14 to 13 Wednesday. Media coverage of the trial is restricted from reporting on why.
On Wednesday, when Khill's lawyer Jeffrey Manishen made his opening statement to jurors, he said Khill's use of self defence came, in part, from his training as a Canadian Armed Forces reservist.
"Whereas the Crown said it's all about a truck, to Mr. Khill it was all about his safety and that of [Melinda's safety]," Manishen said.
The past seven days have seen the Crown bring forward several expert witnesses and Khill's wife to testify. Court has heard how the situation was described to 911 dispatchers after Styres was shot and how Styres may have been standing by the passenger side door of Khill's truck when he was shot.
East of the small village of Coutts, Alta., a stone’s throw from the border with the United States, Cindy Bosch’s day-to-day life looks much like it did a year ago.
For years, police have been on the front lines of mental health crisis calls in Toronto, but the city's police chief believes it's now time to rethink that approach.
One of Prince Edward Island’s last surviving Second World War veterans has died.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has too much regulation and not enough investments in clean energy and technology — and he's making his most direct repudiation yet of his predecessor's environmental policies.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content, including racist, violent and antisemitic language.
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.
Strong winds across the Maritimes left thousands of N.B. Power customers without electricity on Saturday afternoon — and it could be days before all customers have their power restored.
Toronto police say they located a body inside a downtown Toronto home Saturday.
Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge is responding to public outcry against his government’s policy changes for non-permanent residents by making a plea to the federal government.