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.

That led them to investigate the side of the home, where they noticed a rolled-up carpet and dark clothing lying beside a garbage can, he said.

The shoes

Diebert testified he and his partner eventually made their way to the home's back porch, where Hook, who was among the people in the home, answered the door.

He was arrested so he could be detained for what began as an assault investigation, Diebert said.

He told the court Hook was co-operative and the focus quickly turned to finding the man shoes to wear, since he only had socks on in the snow.

Diebert testified that he passed off Hook to Picard, who was then a rookie officer, and continued looking for shoes.

Picard told the court he walked Hook, who still had no shoes, to his police cruiser, where he eventually arrested him again — this time for attempted murder.

Police cruiser video shown in court on Tuesday showed that arrest.

"You're under arrest, charged with attempted murder. Do you understand?" Picard can be heard, after reading Hook his rights, in the video.

"No, because I don't understand why I'm charged with attempted murder," Hook replied.

During his cross-examination, defence lawyer Roch Dupont tested Picard's recollection of events, noting he couldn't remember which officer initially knocked on the door. 

He also pointed to Picard's earlier testimony that Hook was only wearing socks on his way to the police station.

Dupont then showed Picard a picture of what appeared to be surveillance footage of Hook wearing boots while walking to the detention cells.

Picard testified he didn't know where the boots came from.

Later, Sgt. Dwight Kosolofski — who was part of the team that executed a search warrant of the home — testified he seized a yellow bag with black shoes inside.

"It appeared that someone had tried to wash them.… I thought it might be evidence," he told the court.

Dupont asked Kosolofski if everyone in the home might have had access to the bag.

Kosolofski said yes, adding that it was hanging on a door inside of the house.

Forensics

Const. Ryan Buhr of the Regina Police Service's forensic identification unit testified to taking pictures of Lehto's injuries while he was in the hospital, and to identifying him through a fingerprint.

Buhr also told the court he took photos of Hook while in custody and noticed what appeared to be blood on his hands. However, under cross-examination, he couldn't confirm that.

Buhr's colleague in the unit, Const. Melissa Carey, focused on the crime scene.

She testified to taking swabs and performing several forensic tests on evidence seized during the search warrant.

That included the bagged shoes and a glove inside the home — both of which tested positive for Hook's DNA, she told court.

Carey testified the rolled-up carpet and the garbage can next to it found outside had Lehto's DNA on it, with the deceased man's blood detected on a kitchen cabinet inside the home as well.

She said a bottle of bleach was also found at the bottom of the garbage can, though she didn't swab it.

Court is set to reconvene Wednesday morning with Dupont's cross-examination of Carey's testimony.