Woman testifies in attempted murder trial

ERIKA GRINTALS TELLS OF ENCOUNTER WITH BOYFRIEND

Huddled in a stranger’s backyard, fearing for her very life, Erika Grintals hid from an enraged boyfriend who she believed tried to kill her only minutes before.

“I was scared he might be coming after us,” Grintals testified Friday in Robert John Sheppard’s attempted murder trial in Lethbridge provincial court.

The Crown witness told court Sheppard fired a gun at her in her westside house and she fled with her son and his girlfriend, fearing the accused was coming after them.

Sheppard, with whom Grintals had a relationship for a few months in 2017 and 2018, came to her home April 15, 2018 and the two argued in the backyard. Grintals testified she had been trying to end the relationship and Sheppard was upset she was ignoring his text messages.

It was during their heated argument that evening that she became alarmed after Sheppard told her he had a gun.

“I have a gun in the car and 9,000 rounds of ammunition,” he told her.

When he walked away, presumably to get the gun, she said, she ran into house and screamed for her son, his girlfriend and another male friend, to lock the doors and turn off the lights. Then she went back outside to talk to Sheppard who had returned to the yard and was carrying a long bag.

“It looked like something that holds a rifle,” she said.

Sheppard dropped the bag in the middle of the yard and walked toward Grintals as she approached him from the walkout basement. After a brief exchange of words, in which Grintals told Sheppard he was scaring them and yelled, “please don’t do this,” he pushed her backward.

“I just flew backwards straight into the corner of the house.”

She fell but immediately got back up as Sheppard walked toward the centre of the yard where he had left the bag. Grintals ran into the house, locked the patio doors and yelled at her son and his friends to run upstairs. As they rushed up the stairs — the male friend was not near the stairs and dropped to the floor on the other side of the room — Grintals heard “bang, bang, bang,” which she believed came from a gun. “A really loud gun went off.” Grintals testified she never saw a gun, but she and the others — minus the male friend — fled from the house and ran down the street banging on doors hoping someone would let them in. The small, terrified group, finally entered a yard through a gate and crouched down beside an air conditioner and waited for the police to arrive.

The friend who remained in the house waited several minutes for Sheppard to leave, then he ran from the house as police were arriving.

Under cross examination by Calgary lawyer Andre Ouellette, Grintals admitted Sheppard never actually threatened her, other than to say he had a gun. And she was unable to confirm exactly where she was on the stairs when she heard the shots. She told court she was on the bottom step but in her statement to police she said she was halfway up the stairs.

She explained she was in shock at the time and was guessing where she was on the stairs. What she knew for sure however, is that “somebody tried to kill me and my children.”

Sheppard is charged with one count of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a weapon, and single counts of discharging a firearm, careless use/storage of a firearm, pointing a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm/weapon in a vehicle, and carrying a concealed weapon.

Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles told court during his opening remarks Thursday, evidence will show Sheppard fired a rifle at Grintals four times in an attempt to kill her.

In a press release release issued a couple of days later, police said the suspect fled before the tactical team entered the house, but RCMP officers found him early the next morning and he was arrested near Granum following a police chase.

Although several Crown witnesses are still expected to testify, the trial has been adjourned until June 10. Ouellette said Friday he doesn’t plan to call any witnesses to the stand, and he’s not sure if he’ll have Sheppard testify. Follow @DelonHerald on Twitter