Was killing a case of self-defence or seconddegree murder?
Trial hears about the night when Peter Khill shot Jonathan Styres in his Binbrook driveway
It might have been about protecting a truck. Or maybe it was about selfdefence.
Either way, the first cop at the pitch-black scene knelt in thick, cold mud doing compressions on the bloody chest of Jonathan Styres, only to hear air escaping out a gaping shotgun hole in his torso.
The Crown says Styres was killed because he was trying to steal a truck. The accused, Peter Khill, told the officer who arrested him a slightly — but significantly — different story, one that suggests he thought he was in danger.
Those are the options presented to the seven men and five women of the jury as they begin to hear evidence in a second-degree murder trial where the only agreed fact so far is that Khill, who is white, fatally shot Styres, who is Indigenous.
On Monday, when the jury was chosen, the focus was on finding triers of fact who could assure the court they would not be racially biased. It is unclear if any of the jurors are Indigenous. By Tuesday, as the first witnesses took the stand, the focus shifted to the homicide itself and set a scene of the early hours of Feb. 4, 2016, and what Khill saw, did and thought after hearing a noise in his rural Binbrook driveway at 3 a.m.
Styres was trying to steal a 15-yearold GMC pickup truck from Khill’s driveway, Crown attorney James Nadel suggested in his opening ad-
dress.
“In response, Khill got out of bed, grabbed his shotgun, loaded it with two shells and left his house. He approached Jonathan, raised his gun, took aim and, at close range, pulled the trigger. He racked the pump-action shotgun, chambering another round, and pulled the trigger again.”
One shot hit Styres in the chest, Nadel told the jury. The other in the back of his shoulder. Nadel emphasized the word “back.” Each shot was lethal. The shot from behind was — a forensic pathologist will testify — from above, as though Khill was standing over Styres. A firearms expert will put the distance between Styres and Khill at between one and 12 feet.
“Jonathan Styres landed on his back in the mud of Peter Khill’s driveway, where he died almost immediately,” the Crown said. “He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 29 years old.”
Khill’s girlfriend called 911, Nadel continued, after she heard a gunshot. The jury will hear that call.
Khill was arrested in his driveway on Highway 56. He had blood on his hands and mud on his knees. He told police where to find the gun in his house. A police witness would later testify Khill was initially charged with attempted murder and then, when it was confirmed a few minutes later that Styres was dead, it was upgraded to second-degree murder.
Styres’ body lay in deep mud next to the truck. Photos of that were shown on courtroom screens. Members of Styres’ family leaned in for a better look. Khill, 28, sat stoically beside his lawyers wearing a dark suit, white shirt and sporting a closecropped haircut.
Near Styres’ body, beside the truck’s open passenger door, was a spent shotgun shell, two screwdrivers and a few coins. The lock on the passenger door had been “punched in,” the jury saw, and the truck’s ignition was damaged.
“As you watch the trial,” Nadel told the jury, “look closely in the evidence for signs that the accused intended to kill Jonathan Styres.”
A few hours later, the jury heard testimony about Khill’s own explanation of what happened that night.
The first Hamilton police officer at the scene was Const. Jeffrey Hahn. A patrol supervisor would later describe to the jury that he saw Hahn down on his knees, covered in mud, trying futilely to save Styres’ life.
“There was lots of blood on the male on the ground,” Acting Sgt. Tim Knapp said. “Every time he did chest compressions, his shirt would kind of flutter.” That was from the air escaping the wound in his chest, he explained.
While all this was going on, Const. Matthew Robinson had placed Khill — in boxer shorts, slip-on shoes and a hoodie — under arrest, according to his testimony. Khill was in the back of Robinson’s cruiser and had been read his rights and cautioned when the officer asked if he had any questions.
“What do I even ask?” Khill said. “It’s going to be all right,” Robinson said.
“Like, I’m a soldier. That’s how we were trained. I came out. He raised his hands to, like, gun height. It was dark. I thought I was in trouble.”
A few minutes passed and then Khill spoke again.
“Does self-defence mean anything in court?” he asked.