Pynn-Butler trial: Pynn pulled out shotgun, Billy Power says

The prosecution's key witness in a second-degree murder trial told a Supreme Court jury on Tuesday afternoon his version of what happened the night Nick Winsor was shot to death in his Portugal Cove Road garage.

Tom "Billy" Power appeared relaxed as he testified at Philip Pynn and Lyndon Butler's trial in St. John's.

"Are you nervous, Mr. Power?" Crown prosecutor David Bright asked.

"A little. Not bad," Power said.

But on July 9, 2011, Power said he was more than nervous after he said he was attacked and a man was shot while he was nearby.

Power, 40, said it started when a knock came at his door late at night. He said it was Philip Pynn — someone he had know for about a decade.

"I knew it was him right away when I opened the door," Power said. 

"I said, 'Who told you to come here?'"

Power, a fabrication shop worker, said Pynn told him he had to speak with him.

Power said he walked outside with Pynn and headed toward his garage, where he saw two men walking from the side of his house and began to walk behind them.

"I was kinda puzzled when I seen them," Power told the jury. "I didn't know what to think."

Who pulled the trigger?

According to Power, once the four men got inside the garage, an attack happened, and he was hit over the head several times by a "bigger" man.

"I hears Mr. Pynn say, 'Where's the chain?'" Power said.

"I seen a shotgun. I seen Mr. Pynn haul a shotgun outta [Winsor's] pants." 

According to the witness, Pynn put the shotgun to Power's stomach, and Power grabbed the barrel with two hands.

The court has heard from the Crown that Winsor, 20, was fatally shot during the struggle over the gun.

"I started screaming, 'I'll give you what you wants,'" Power said. 

Surveillance video shows Power and the two other men running out of the garage just moments after the sound of a single shot.

Pynn's brother

Power told the court he has a rocky history with Pynn's brother Eddy Martin.

According to Power, his feud with Martin began after he was told Pynn's brother was responsible for his cabin burning down. 

Power told the jury a story about a fight that had happened outside Shoppers Drug Mart years ago, that involved a knife.

But despite that, Power said when he met Pynn 10 years ago, Pynn told him he had no bad feelings towards Power.

That changed, Power said, after he saw Pynn at a restaurant in St. John's. 

Power testified that Pynn, while eating at a table inside the establishment, told him that Power owed him money for a chain he had purchased from a mutual friend, which originally belonged to Pynn.

The court heard that Pynn's girlfriend had sold the chain while he was in prison.

Power said he paid $5,000, and when he told that to Pynn, the man put a knife on the table in from of him. 

That was the last time, Power said, he saw the man who is now up for second-degree murder, until the night Winsor was shot.

Hatcher sisters

A woman told the jury Tuesday morning she saw Pynn and Butler at her house just hours after Winsor was shot to death. 

Ashley Hatcher said she saw them around 2:30 a.m. on July 10, when the pair knocked on her door. That was several hours after Winsor was shot to death in a garage on Portugal Cove Road. 

Hatcher said, after she woke up on July 10, Butler was gone, but Pynn was still at her house.

Hatcher only gave police a statement last week — on the day her sister Allyson Hatcher was set to testify. She was Pynn's girlfriend at the time of the offence.

When questioned by the defence, Ashley Hatcher said she was too nervous to talk to police when she was approached three years ago.

When Allyson Hatcher took the stand on Tuesday, she said that Pynn and Butler were at her house on the morning after Winsor's death. 

She said that Jonathan Rowe, who is charged with accessory after the fact, arrived at her house that same morning and left with Pynn.

CBC reporter Ariana Kelland filed these updates today from the courtroom to our live blog.

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