Dead man’s spouse testifies at trial
In a backyard strewn with tiny bicycles, toy trucks and balls, Tyler Applegate walked toward his gate, holding a dog chain and one of his kids’ bikes as a shield.
Seconds later, he walked back up to his deck, trailing small blood droplets beside a stuffed animal.
Court exhibit photos shown at the second-degree murder trial of Dallin Lane Singharath illustrated Kathy Cardinal’s recollection of her spouse’s shooting on a sunny July 22, 2017 morning.
Applegate, a 27-year-old father of five, died three weeks later from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Singharath is accused of firing the shot. His judge-alone trial began Monday at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
Cardinal testified that Applegate had confronted a man earlier about urinating on his fence beside the 33rd Street Mac’s Convenience store. She said Applegate came back to say the man apologized and “everything was good.”
Soon after, Cardinal said she saw a black Nissan Titan pull into their alley and three men emerge. They walked toward her yard and Applegate went to meet them, she said.
She recalled hearing someone say “gun” and then the crack of a gunshot, followed by the squeal of a truck speeding away.
At first, Cardinal said she couldn’t see any blood. She said she knew something was wrong when Applegate collapsed on the kitchen floor.
“I kind of forgot how to call 911,” Cardinal said, tears streaming down her face.
Const. Sheldon Reddekopp testified that when he arrived at the duplex Applegate was pale and vomiting. There was very little blood and no exit wound, he said.
However, doctors struggled to stabilize Applegate in those initial hours after he went into cardiac arrest, he told court.
Cardinal said she didn’t hear any words exchanged before her spouse was shot. She also said she didn’t see anyone holding a gun.
I kind of forgot how to call 911.
Applegate did not have any weapons with him; he just didn’t want the men to come into the yard, she testified.
Cardinal said the man who urinated on her fence wore a white T-shirt. Another man, who was slightly out of view, wore a light-coloured shirt, while the man in the middle of them wore black, baggy clothes and had his face covered, she told the Crown.
Prosecutor Cory Bliss tendered a statement from Cody April, a witness who died after testifying at Singharath’s 2019 preliminary hearing.
April said his roommate came home with two other men and told him that a guy was shot. Someone said there was a gun in one of the men’s bags, he testified.