Misha Pavelick died from stab wound to the heart, murder trial hears

Misha Pavelick died from a stab wound to the heart, a Regina courtroom heard on Friday. 

Crown prosecutor Adam Breker called Dr. Dino Grammatico, a pathologist who performed the autopsy on Pavlick the day after he was killed in May 2006, to testify Friday at the second-degree murder trial for the man accused of killing the teen.

The 36-year-old accused, who has pleaded not guilty to the offence, can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time. His trial is being heard by a jury.

Pavelick, 19, was fatally stabbed during a party at the Kinookimaw campground near Regina Beach, about 45 kilometres northwest of Regina, on May 21, 2006.

The Crown has previously said that Pavelick was involved in two fights during a "chaotic" night, and that he was stabbed after being attacked by a group of people.

Tears were shed in the courtroom Friday as Pavelick’s family heard a two-centimetre knife wound on the left side of his chest injured his heart, resulting in blood loss and his death.

Grammatico said Pavelick also had a stab wound near his elbow and three cuts on the crown of his head, along with bruises on the right side of his face, his knuckles and above his right buttock.

Breker asked if any of those other injuries contributed to Pavelick’s death. 

Grammatico said they didn’t, adding that Pavelick had two litres of blood in his chest due to the injury to his heart. He likely died within minutes, Grammatico said.

Melanie Green, a forensic specialist with the RCMP, testified about DNA evidence police obtained in their investigation. 

Green said DNA was collected from a series of individuals between 2006 and 2021, including from Pavelick, Scott Nelson, Derek Enns, Andrew Perkins, a witness who can’t be identified in order to protect the identity of the accused, and the accused. 

Nelson, who testified last week, stabbed Enns on the same night Pavelick died, and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2007 for the attack.

Breker asked about a bloody white shirt that was handed over to police by Andrew Perkins in 2006.

Green said the white shirt contained DNA that matched multiple people including Pavelick, Nelson, Perkins and the accused.