Calgary Herald

Accused feared for his family’s safety, trial told

- BILL KAUFMANN BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Under grilling by a Crown prosecutor, admitted killer Joshua Matechuk conceded Wednesday he had several chances to extricate himself from a situation that ended in him gunning down a crime boss.

But Matechuk told Court of Queen’s Bench he feared for his and his family’s safety if he disobeyed the commands of Rodney Conway who he eventually fatally shot in a vacant parking lot at 10300 Macleod Tr. on April 18, 2015.

But skeptical prosecutor Jonathan Hak questioned why Matechuk drove his stolen van into the parking lot where Conway, 44, was shot once in the chest.

“When you pulled into that parking lot your intention was to confront him, it was your intention to turn the tables and shoot him,” said Hak, who also noted Matechuk’s testimony that after the shooting, he drove around looking for Conway.

“Was it your plan to finish him off?”

Said Matechuk, 27, who’s charged with second-degree murder: “I was certainly not looking to inflict more harm on him.”

The accused said he wanted to give Conway back his firearms but that the dead man threatened him and tried to grab a shotgun.

In the days leading up to the shooting, Hak cast doubt on Matechuk’s claims he was an unwilling participan­t in crimes Conway planned and led that included vehicle and store thefts and the robbery of a northeast scrap metal yard in which the accused struck a staffer with a handgun.

“There is an innocent victim and you pistol-whipped him,” said Hak.

And the lawyer also questioned Matechuk’s story of being repeatedly injected by Conway against his will with crystal meth.

“Why didn’t you fight back, why did you let this jerk, this criminal inject you with an unknown substance?” said Hak.

Matechuk said Conway was armed, had threatened him and his family and said the dead man injected him because “if I ratted him out later, I wouldn’t be believed because I was a drug user.”

Hak questioned why Matechuk didn’t call Calgary police or physically flee Conway’s orbit when he had several chances.

While repeatedly insisting he feared Conway’s threats, at one point the accused admitted “I don’t have a definitive answer.”

Matechuk’s longtime friend Jason Stanley testified Matechuk had called him at his home in western Quebec just before the shooting, telling him he wanted to leave Calgary.

“He was scared so I got him a bus ticket to get him out of there,” said Stanley.

“I could tell by the tone of his voice it was serious.”

Shortly after Conway’s death, Stanley told court he spoke with Matechuk by phone again and the accused described the shooting in self-defence terms similar to the account the accused had given in court.

Stanley denied he’d discussed the evidence with Matechuk while the latter was in jail.

Final arguments in the case are scheduled for Friday.

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