'You were angry': Prosecutor grills Peter Khill about killing Jon Styres, accuses him of lying
Crown contends Khill shot Styres while victim was on his hands and knees
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
For the past two weeks, Peter Khill has appeared calm and collected in court, but on Thursday he took deep breaths and looked exasperated as Crown prosecutors accused him of lying about the night he shot and killed Jon Styres.
Khill is facing a second-degree murder charge after firing two lethal shots at Styres on a cold February night in Hamilton in 2016. The Six Nations man was trying to steal Khill's truck when he died.
Khill, a former reservist, has pleaded not guilty, saying his military training kicked in and he only pulled the trigger because he thought Styres was pointing a pistol at him. He also said he attempted CPR on Styres.
Assistant Crown attorney Sean Doherty, meanwhile, tried to convince the jury that Khill shot Styres out of anger, not fear.
Doherty pressed Khill in court for hours, building up the pressure throughout the day.
Emotions were running high on Day 8 of the trial in the Superior Court of Justice, with Khill's wife looking distressed and the mother of Styres's two children at one point storming out of the courtroom.
Crown says Khill didn't use 'common sense'
Doherty argued that Khill could have avoided conflict many times.
Both Khill and his wife had phones in their bedroom when they woke up to a sound in the early hours of Feb. 4, but neither called 911 before shots rang out.
The prosecutor said Khill could have opened his bedroom window and tried to shout at Styres, turned on lights outside his home or fired a warning shot.
When Khill, holding a shotgun, eventually left his home through a backdoor and entered a breezeway connecting his home and garage, Doherty said he could have turned back after seeing Styres wasn't there.
"Soldier or not, are these not common sense things? To call 911, make your presence known?" Doherty asked Khill.
Khill said he thought there was an imminent threat and wasn't sure if he and his wife would be killed in moments.
"I think I've already answered the question, but I needed to gain control of this situation before ... I have people in my home," Khill said.
'A disregard for anything tactical'
Khill previously said he didn't know if there were multiple people and if they were in the breezeway.
Doherty pushed back against those claims and also questioned the notion that Khill's reaction could be attributed to his training as a Canadian Armed Forces reservist.
"All the evidence shows a disregard for anything tactical," Doherty said.
Doherty said Khill was, in some ways, unprepared, walking barefoot with just two shells in his shotgun while wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts.
Under questioning from Doherty, Khill acknowledged that he didn't lock the door behind him, nor did he search around his house before entering the breezeway — both of which left his wife vulnerable if more than one person was there.
Doherty said that's because Khill knew there weren't multiple people and because he wasn't using his military training.
"That's very easy for you to say looking at this," Khill said, adding he was moving toward the sound and trying to be proactive.
'You know that's not the truth'
Doherty said Khill lied about numerous aspects of that night, but most of all about the moment he encountered Styres.
He said Khill had no intention of detaining Styres because he didn't bring handcuffs or other tools to perform a citizen's arrest.
"What are you going to do? Put him in an armbar and drop the shotgun on the floor?" the prosecutor asked Khill.
Khill said he would have tried to detain Styres if he surrendered.
He testified that Styres was leaning into the truck when Khill asked him to put his hands up.
He said he shot Styres after seeing him put his hands together below his waist and raise them as he turned toward Khill.
After the two shots — one to the victim's chest and the other to his right shoulder — Khill said Styres stumbled before collapsing onto Khill's muddy driveway and dying almost two metres away from the truck's open passenger-side door.
"That's not the truth, you know that's not the truth," Doherty said.
"He's got a shot in his chest, a shot in his arm and he gets up and starts walking?"
Doherty noted how the two shotgun shells from Khill's gun didn't land close to each other.
He said after Khill shot Styres in the chest, Styres dropped to his hands and knees before he started crawling to get away from Khill.
"You followed him from the left to the right with the muzzle of your gun ... you shot him a second time," Doherty said.
"I completely disagree, that is a false statement," Khill said.
Doherty said Khill was acting on emotion — and that emotion was anger, after his wife described what sounded like two potential break-in attempts the week prior.
"You were angry about what your wife reported to you at the back door while you were out of town. You were angry you were woken up in the middle of the night and there was somebody in your truck," Doherty said.
"No, I was scared and I was worried," Khill said.
The trial before Justice Andrew Goodman is expected to end next week.
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