Regina man's 2nd-degree murder trial hears first responder testimony about bloody crime scene

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.

A second-degree murder trial began this week at Regina's Court of King's Bench for Adam Hook, who is accused in the death of Jeffrey Lehto nearly three years ago.

Lehto, 30, was found seriously injured in front of a home in the 1700 block of Quebec Street on the evening of Jan. 19, 2021. He died in hospital the next day.

Hook was arrested and charged with second-degree murder soon after. Harvey Huntinghawk, 48, was also arrested and charged for second-degree murder in connection with Lehto's death, but that charge was stayed after Huntinghawk died in December 2021.

According to his obituary, Lehto — who was originally from Sudbury, Ont. — was a hard-working self-employed handyman, an avid outdoorsman, an "all-star" karaoke singer and a passionate Toronto Maple Leafs fan, but said he would above all else "always be remembered as a loving father."

In the first two days of Hook's three-week judge-alone trial, co-Crown prosecutors David Belanger and Arjun Shankar mostly focused on the first responders who tended to the crime scene.

Regina police Const. George Koutsogiannopoulos was the first to arrive, after 911 calls came in about a disturbance at 1713 Quebec St. and a person lying motionless on the sidewalk in front of the home, court heard.

Koutsogiannopoulos said that as soon as he drove up, he saw Lehto lying on top of a rug with his eyes open and blood pooling in the hood of his jacket.

The constable said he alerted paramedics immediately, requesting they come "hot," or as fast as possible.

"There was so much blood in the back of his head that it was too hard for me to look," Koutsogiannopoulos told the court.

Paramedic Dana West testified that when she arrived on scene, her team "couldn't find where [Lehto] was bleeding from because there was too much blood."

West and her partner rushed the man to the Regina General Hospital, where he later died.

Const. Tyrell Diebert and Const. Dayton Picard testified separately that they were patrolling in the area when they were called in.

Diebert told the court he noticed drag marks in the snow coming from the house.