Domestic killing was self-defence, Morley woman tells 911 as she waits 48 minutes for paramedics
Brennon Twoyoungmen died in October 2016 after being stabbed in the chest by his common-law wife
A 48-minute 911 call was played in court on Monday at the manslaughter trial of a Morley woman who killed her common-law partner in what she says was an act of self-defence.
Vanesssa Poucette fatally stabbed her common-law partner Brennon Twoyoungmen, 42, during a domestic dispute in October 2016. The couple had been arguing and Poucette told the 911 operator Twoyoungmen had attacked her and tried to choke her.
Twoyoungmen was still conscious and breathing when Poucette, 48, called 911 from her brother's home on the Morley reserve, but there was confusion over the address so it took paramedics nearly an hour to get to the victim.
By the time they arrived, Twoyoungmen was dead.
When she was later photographed at the Cochrane RCMP detachment, Poucette had a cut on her lip, bruises on her arm and back and was complaining of pain in her chest.
'Things got out of hand'
That 911 call made by Poucette was played at the beginning of her trial before Justice David Gates.
Poucette begins the call by telling the operator that she and Twoyoungmen had been arguing when "things got out of hand."
Twoyoungmen had tried to choke her, so Poucette said she fought back, grabbing a knife and stabbing him once in the chest.
There was "confusion" over the house number, said prosecutor Jillian Pawlow, so it took paramedics at least 50 minutes to get to the victim.
Two unrelated stabbings had taken place at almost the same time in the community. Const. Elizabeth MacNamara was at one of the homes but could hear radio chatter that her colleagues were having difficulty finding the second scene. The address they'd been given by Poucette and her brother was the wrong one.
Once MacNamara was cleared from her call, she made her way to Twoyoungmen.
'Can EMS hurry up?'
While they waited, Poucette followed the instructions of a paramedic on the other end of the line. She performed CPR and held her sweater tightly against Twoyoungmen's wound.
Over and over, Poucette asks when EMS would be arriving.
"I do need EMS right away," she says to the operator. "Can EMS hurry up?"
Pawlow said she plans to call seven witnesses. But the key witness died in a car accident last year.
Clement Poucette, the accused's brother, was the only other person in the home the night of the fatal fight.
The first of two recorded police interviews between Clement Poucette and RCMP was played Monday. He confirmed his sister and Twoyoungmen were arguing that night and that the victim had tried to choke the accused.
But the brother made it sound like Vanessa Poucette fetched a knife from the kitchen after Twoyoungmen had stopped choking her rather than in the moment, although he seemed confused about many of the night's details throughout the interview.
The prosecution will ask the judge to allow Clement's police statements to be admitted as evidence.
Killer was calm, says paramedic
Paramedic James Rozema was first on scene and found Poucette kneeling over Twoyoungmen, putting pressure on the wound when he arrived.
The Crown's first witness said that when Poucette told him she'd stabbed the victim, he was surprised: "You?" he asked.
"People don't generally do that," he told defence lawyer Alain Hepner of the admission.
There was "minimal blood," said Rozema, just a little around the wound.
Initially describing Poucette as calm, MacNamara said the accused became upset, curling into herself in the back of the police cruiser and crying.
The trial is set to run all week.
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