Supreme Court to decide on Hamilton-area homeowner's appeal in 2016 fatal shooting of Indigenous man
CBC
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision today on whether a Hamilton-area homeowner initially acquitted after shooting and killing an Indigenous man in 2016 should face a new trial.
The top court's judgment Thursday involving Peter Khill will come more than five years after the death of Jon Styres, 29, who was from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.
Khill was found not guilty of second-degree murder following a 12-day trial in June 2018 in which he argued he acted in self-defence.
The Crown appealed the verdict, leading to a unanimous ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal that said the trial judge failed to instruct the jury to consider Khill's conduct before he pulled the trigger and Styres was killed around 3 a.m. ET on Feb. 4, 2016.
Khill, who spent several years as a part-time military reservist, testified during his trial that he woke up to see the lights on in his truck in his home's driveway.
He told court his training kicked in and he loaded a shotgun, left the house and stealthily approached a man who appeared to be trying to steal his vehicle.
Khill told the jury he yelled, "Hey, hands up," and, when Styres turned toward him with his hands moving up to "gun height," he fired in self-defence. Khill did not deny firing the two, close-range shotgun blasts that killed Styres, but pleaded not guilty.