The second day of testimony is underway at the Gerald Stanley murder trial in Battleford.
Stanley is the man charged with the second degree murder of Colten Boushie, a young Indigenous man from Red Pheasant First Nation. Boushie was in a vehicle that drove onto his property on Aug. 9, 2016, when he was shot and killed.
Wednesday’s proceedings continued with one more RCMP witness as well as the start of “civilian” testimony from those on the scene including Sheldon Stanley, Gerald’s son.
The first witness Wednesday morning was Cst. Andrew Park of the Biggar detachment of the RCMP, who was exhibit officer at the scene. Crown prosecutor Chris Browne handled the questioning which mainly focused on exhibits from the scene.
Dustin Gillanders handled cross-examination for the defence, and his questioning focused quickly on Park’s earlier attendance at the Fouhy farm about 15-20 km away.
He testified a grey SUV with a flat tire had been at the scene and was reported suspicious, and also testified about an alleged break-in of a red pick-up truck at that location. He testified a stock from a gun was also found in the area.
No charges were laid in connection to what happened at the Fouhy farm.
Park also had arrested two females at the Stanley farm. He testified that when he arrested one of them, Kiora Wuttunee, she was hysterical and “couldn’t stop crying.” He believed the other woman arrested, Belinda Jackson, was intoxicated and noted a smell of alcohol.
Following a break, the much-anticipated testimony of Sheldon Stanley, 28 years old, got under way.
Bill Burge once again handled the prosecution duties for this segment.
Sheldon testified that in the afternoon, both he and Gerald were working on the fence, and his mother was mowing the grass that day.
As they worked on the fence, something happened that caught his attention. He testified that as they were “getting ready to hang the gate,” they heard a vehicle coming down the road with a really loud muffler.
“It definitely got our attention,” Sheldon said on the stand.
Sheldon also confirmed that his dad did mechanical work for people in the area. The work would be done in the silver shop there. Vehicles belonging to other owners were on the property at the time to be repaired.
Sheldon then testified the SUV vehicle — which is a grey Ford Escape — pulled up beside a gold Ford. Someone jumped out, and jumped in and out of the Ford.
It looked like they were looking for something, Sheldon said. But he thought at the time it was the owner or his son coming out, and didn’t think much of it.
Then the SUV vehicle pulled up to the shop. Sheldon said he walked up the hill to the shop, and could hear the quad start.
“As soon as we heard the quad start, I started running,” Sheldon said, thinking somebody was trying to steal something.
“I could see somebody standing on the quad trying to get it to move.”
The vehicle backed up, the only way it could, beside the Cat. As the car backed up Sheldon testified he went toward it and took a framing hammer and backhanded the front windshield of the vehicle.
The vehicle pulled ahead, and Gerald Stanley kicked the tail end of the car as it pulled away.
“It looked like it was leaving.”
It took a right turn where it struck the end of the blue Ford Escape on the property, and then it stopped right by the lawnmower. He said the vehicle had made a 45-degree turn into the blue Escape.
Sheldon then pointed to the vehicle and the mower on the aerial photo shown in court.
He said he only saw one person on the quad, a male wearing black clothing, who didn’t seem overly tall. This person then ran around the front and got in a passenger door.
Sheldon was standing at the time in front of the shop. When he saw the collision, Sheldon testified he took off running for the house, not knowing if the vehicle was going to leave. He ran to get his truck keys, he testified.
As he was entering the premises he heard two shots. When he came out, he heard a third gunshot.
Sheldon testified he found his father walking at the side of the grey Escape, and remembered looking into the back seat.
“That’s when I heard a third shot.”
Sheldon turned, and he saw Gerald walking back of the grey vehicle with a gun in one hand and a magazine in the other.
Sheldon said his father “turned and looked at me and looked like he was going to be sick,” and added that Gerald said, “I don’t know what happened. It just went off. I just wanted to scare them.”
Sheldon then described two individuals. One of them dropped a cell phone and then picked it up, who jogged away. One wore a windbreaker, and the other had a black T-shirt and black pants.
Sheldon also saw his mother at the front of the vehicle. She turned to him and said “call 9-1-1.”
He made “two or three” calls to 9-1-1, he said, with the first call being dropped. Eventually he got through and told them what happened.
Sheldon also described the reaction of the two female passengers. They had been in the back seat and started yelling, then dragged an individual out of the front seat.
He described the two females pulling the shooting victim Colten Boushie out of the front of the vehicle.
“His upper body torso fell out onto the gravel,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon testified he also saw a barrel of gun come out with the driver.
“It came out with him,” he said.
After trying again to phone 9-1-1, Sheldon saw the two females start attacking his mother in front of the grey vehicle.
“They had her on the ground and were hitting her,” he said.
They finally stopped and waited in the vehicle, but soon after the two females had picked up the barrel of the gun and were “all mocking what happened, pointing at each other and saying ‘bang, bang,’” said Sheldon. They eventually went west down the road.
In the aftermath, Sheldon testified Gerald was in the shop, pacing back and forth; it wasn’t until everyone else had left that he came to the house.
“He was pacing back and forth on the deck,” Sheldon testified. Sheldon also spoke on the phone around this time to Cst. Park who was trying to find them. Afterwards, the three sat in silence at the dining room table and had a cup of coffee, until “six or seven” police cars arrived shortly after.
The mother, and then Sheldon and Gerald, came out with hands above their heads, and were placed in separate police vehicles.
Eventually, he and his mother were let go by police and they would eventually drive to the Biggar detachment.
Sheldon said he did not notice injuries to his dad from firing the gun. Usually he shoots with his right hand, he said.
Sheldon was also asked if he knew Colten Boushie. He said no, and that he never heard that name before.
Gillanders handled the cross-examination in which he focused on the Ford Escape vehicle coming up to the driveway and Sheldon smashing the windshield with a hammer.
Sheldon also reiterated he saw the grey Escape vehicle leaving “as fast as it can,” and said he didn’t chase after the vehicle. And he spoke again about the hard right turn it made into the blue Ford Escape.
Court then broke for lunch, with proceedings set to resume at 2 p.m. with cross examination of Sheldon Stanley.
Stay with the News-Optimist for further details about the Gerald Stanley trial.
Follow us on Twitter for tweets from the courtroom. https://twitter.com/TheNewsOptimist
