Killer tells jury they made ‘a mistake’ after trio found guilty of murder

After six long weeks of evidence and jury deliberations spanning four days, three men have been convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of Shawn Roderick Douglas.

The jury brought down the verdicts shortly after 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Dennis Thompson, 35, Johnathon Peepetch, 26, and Joshua Wilson, 27, were accused of killing the 54-year-old journeyman pipefitter, whose body was found east of Zehner on Aug. 7, 2014.

As the verdict was delivered, Peepeetch rose in the prisoner’s dock and told the jury, “You’re making a mistake but I respect what you have decided.”

The family of Douglas began crying upon hearing the verdicts, and sighing in relief. Friday marked the fourth day of jury deliberations, which began Tuesday afternoon.

On Thursday morning, jurors asked to rehear the testimony of two Crown witnesses. The two women told the court they were in a vehicle while a group of males took Douglas down to the bush where the 54-year-old man was reportedly beaten to death with tools.

Jurors returned that afternoon with another question, this one looking for clarification on a “decision tree,” which breaks down the

questions they need to address in coming to a verdict.

During the trial, court heard testimony that Douglas was targeted for robbery and was later taken out of town in the trunk of a car. Court heard the man was bound and taken to a treed area where he was fatally beaten.

A forensic pathologist told the court Douglas died of blunt-force trauma to the head.

The jury was asked to decide whether Peepeetch, Thompson and Wilson were guilty of first- or second-degree murder or manslaughter, or whether they were not guilty of any of those offences.

The Crown called evidence indicating Douglas was killed after a party at a home on the 1600 block of Toronto Street, after first being at a restaurant nearby. At the home, the court heard witnesses say, he was set up to be robbed and later put in the trunk of a car and driven to a wooded area where he was killed. He died after being attacked with a sledgehammer and other tools.

The Crown had told the jury the men could be found guilty as central players but also as accomplices.

The jury broke for the day at about 9 p.m. Thursday without having reached a verdict, then returned to the courthouse Friday morning. Postmedia News