Frantic 911 calls played for jury as RCMP investigator testifies
Witness also talked about firearms and ammunition found at the scene
Not long before the sun would begin to rise over the Kawacatoose First Nation on Nov. 26, 2021, Eric Favel dialed 911.
“Please come get me,” he pleaded. “I accidentally shot somebody.”
The call-taker asked him who he'd shot.
“Thomas Dustyhorn, it was an accident!”
On Wednesday afternoon, Favel sat in a prisoner's box with his head in his hands as the recording was played for a jury in Regina's Court of King 's Bench. He stands accused of second-degree murder in Dustyhorn's death.
Favel pleaded not guilty when his trial began Monday.
“I think I shot myself, too,” he could be heard saying on the recording, after telling the call-taker the firearm used was a 12-gauge shotgun. He had it with him at the time, he said. He told the call-taker that Dustyhorn was still breathing and to hurry, but the call quickly devolved with Favel having apparently abandoned focus on the conversation. However, the line remained open and screaming could be heard from numerous parties.
Favel's 911 call was just one of many that came in about the incident that morning. The recordings were played during the testimony of RCMP Const. Cameron Schmidt, an officer with the Major Crimes unit who was the primary investigator with regard to Dustyhorn's death. He told prosecutor Arjun Shankar that he'd collected the recordings of the calls following the incident.
Schmidt was cross-examined by Favel's lawyer, Jeff Deagle.
“We heard evidence in that last 911 call, Mr. Favel yelling `You did this. You did it,' ” Deagle said.
The defence lawyer said he presumes his client was referring to one of the other people known to have been present at the home at the time. He asked: would that be fair? “It would,” Schmidt acknowledged.
The officer was also asked whether police had taken any steps to determine if the fingerprints of those other individuals were on the firearm police believe was involved.
The officer said he knows that a forensic team looked at it, but he was uncertain about the result of testing.
Court previously heard Favel told paramedics he'd been assaulted by three men and struck with a metal bar before he'd grabbed a shotgun and fired. While Schmidt wasn't able to speak about forensic results of a jack handle seized at the scene, court heard Thursday from RCMP Sgt. Reg Kraeker, a forensic specialist.
He testified the jack handle carried the fingerprint of another person known to have been at the scene. Through Kraeker's testimony, court was led through the house on the First Nation, where court has heard Favel lived.
The officer used the term “suspected blood,” as forensic specialists cannot confirm whether a substance is blood in the field. But suspected or not, he said there was an awful lot, all over the place.
The largest concentration seemed to be on the floor of a bedroom in the home. It looked as if the floor had been “spray-painted red,” the officer testified. There was blood in multiple places throughout the room, including on the bed. There were a number of holes found in the ceiling, with the rough diameter of a pencil. Four guns were found in the room, and ammunition was found in various locations.
A number of loose shotgun shells were found, including five or six between the box spring and mattress, he testified.
Ammunition was found elsewhere in the home as well, including a number of spent .22-calibre casings and a spent shotgun shell. The spent shotgun round (meaning it had been fired) was found in the kitchen beneath the table, Kraeker said.
Lisa Smart, another of Favel's lawyers, conducted the cross-examination of Kraeker.
“There's no way for you to tell why those cartridges were spent, correct?”
“Correct,” answered the officer, who also agreed there was no way to tell when the rounds were fired.
Court also heard Kraeker testify about the guns seized by police: a black .22-calibre rifle and a shotgun. He'd tested both for fingerprints.
Were any fingerprints found on the shotgun? “No,” the officer told Shankar.
What about the .22?
“No fingerprints found on that one either.”
The trial is scheduled to continue Friday.