Victim wanted fight, trial told

Kelowna man on trial for manslaughter over punch that led to death of apparent belligerent drunk

Zachary Gaudette was looking for a fight the night he was killed, a witness told the jury in Kelowna Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Kelowna resident Cory Richard Eric Van Gilder, 25, is charged with manslaughter in the death of Gaudette, a 30-year-old Ontario man, following an altercation outside Cactus Club on Feb. 17, 2016.

Gaudette lost consciousness prior to the arrival of emergency crews and succumbed to his injuries two days later.

Tyson Attwood was at Cactus Club that night with a group of friends for a birthday party.

He told the jury he and a few friends went outside at one point to smoke, when they saw Gaudette coming toward them from the intersection of Highway 97 and Banks Road.

“He started coming over and taking off his jacket and yelling at everyone,” said Attwood, adding about 20 to 30 people were outside Cactus Club at the time. “He was yelling, but I’m not sure who he was yelling at or what he was saying. He was just screaming and swearing about how he would fight anyone there.”

When asked if he thought Gaudette was sober, Attwood said he didn’t think so.

“He had a red face and he was sweating,” he said. “There (were) veins popping out of his neck. He was really angry and sweaty. It seemed like he was looking for a fight.”

One of Attwood’s friends was closest to Gaudette at the time, and Attwood said he was worried about what was going to happen.

“I thought we were going to get in a fight for sure,” he said. “We weren’t trying to fuel the situation, but he was really getting in Jordan’s face, so we stepped up in case anything happened. I had no doubt in my mind he was going to hit one of us, hit someone. He was acting really aggressive.”

Attwood described Gaudette throwing up his arms in a “challenging manner,” but said he never saw Gaudette touch anyone.

All of a sudden, Van Gilder came out from a nearby crowd, got in between Gaudette and Attwood’s group and punched Gaudette on the side of the face, said Attwood.

“He disarmed the situation before it got too serious,” he said.

After being punched, Gaudette fell to the ground, hit his head on the pavement and was acting strange, said Attwood.

“He was convulsing a little bit, but he was almost frozen,” he said. “We were trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t responding. I’ve never seen someone react like that from getting punched.”

The punch did not seem like an extremely forceful one, said Attwood.

“It wasn’t the hardest punch I’ve seen; it wasn’t like he was throwing all his might into it. It was, if you will, a regular punch.”

The trial continues.