Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ashcroft, B.C., Resident Testifies He Watched Shovel Attack On Neighbour

The Canadian Press, 12 Aug, 2015 12:21 PM
  • Ashcroft, B.C., Resident Testifies He Watched Shovel Attack On Neighbour
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — An Ashcroft, B.C., resident who stepped outside for a smoke may have witnessed the beating death of his neighbour with a shovel, a murder trial has heard.
 
Gil Anderson testified in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday about what he saw and heard on June 2, 2014, the day a man is accused of fatally attacking his uncle.
 
Shane Gyoba, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Ed Gyoba.
 
Court heard Anderson called police in the town west of Kamloops, B.C., just under an hour after he went outside for a morning cigarette and heard a shouting match.
 
It was just before 8:40 a.m. when Anderson, who lived across the street from Shane Gyoba's home, went to investigate the sounds by walking around the side of his house to the driveway.
 
He peered through bushes and saw two people on the man's front lawn, but couldn't quite see their faces, he testified.
 
"I saw the silhouette on the left attack the one on the right. The one on the right tried to defend itself and the one on the left pursued until the one on the right fell down," he said.
 
Anderson said he then saw the attacker pick up something from the ground and start swinging.
 
"I could see the long handle and I wasn't quite sure what it was until I heard the shovel, the first strike," he said.
 
He heard a garbled voice and a groan, then what he believed to be two more strikes.
 
"It was a reverberating metal sound and a loud thump."
 
Then there was silence, he said.
 
Anderson told court he was shaken and first convinced himself what happened wasn't real.
 
The man walked directly past Gyoba’s yard to bring his daughter to school, without looking at the scene, he said.
 
"I could hear the sound of digging as I walked by — the sound of the shovel moving earth."
 
After the man returned home he decided to call police.
 
"I think at that point I'd accepted what I'd seen," he said.
 
"I'd come to the conclusion that I actually did just see that — that somebody had been assaulted and beat with a shovel 20 feet away."
 
A police witness earlier testified investigators found a broken shovel on Gyoba's property.
 
The trial before judge alone is expected to wrap up next week.

MORE National ARTICLES

Sascha Hedrich Identified As A Man Killed In Highway 1 Tour Bus Collision

Sascha Hedrich Identified As A Man Killed In Highway 1 Tour Bus Collision
CHASE, B.C. — British Columbia's coroners service has identified the man who died in last week's collision involving a tour bus on a notorious section of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Sascha Hedrich Identified As A Man Killed In Highway 1 Tour Bus Collision

Vancouver Police Officer Ismail Bhabha Found Guilty Of Assault To Be Sentenced In November

Vancouver Police Officer Ismail Bhabha Found Guilty Of Assault To Be Sentenced In November
Const. Ismail Bhabha's actions were captured on video that surfaced on the Internet.

Vancouver Police Officer Ismail Bhabha Found Guilty Of Assault To Be Sentenced In November

Most Wildfires Human-caused Across British Columbia: Forests Minister Steve Thomson

Most Wildfires Human-caused Across British Columbia: Forests Minister Steve Thomson
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A spike in human-caused wildfires across British Columbia has the forests minister calling for more vigilance from the public.

Most Wildfires Human-caused Across British Columbia: Forests Minister Steve Thomson

Accused Cop Shooter Ken Knutson's Case Resumes In December With Preliminary Inquiry

Accused Cop Shooter Ken Knutson's Case Resumes In December With Preliminary Inquiry
Ken Knutson, 36, has pleaded not guilty to various offences including the attempted murder of Cpl. Jean-Rene Michaud.

Accused Cop Shooter Ken Knutson's Case Resumes In December With Preliminary Inquiry

Forestry Crews Busy Spotting New Fires Spawned By Overnight Storm

Forestry Crews Busy Spotting New Fires Spawned By Overnight Storm
A lightning storm has rolled across the B-C Interior and the B-C Wildfire Management Branch says it means more work -- and more concern -- for the province's parched woodlands.

Forestry Crews Busy Spotting New Fires Spawned By Overnight Storm

Suzuki Foundation Finds Heavy Metals In Delta Biosolids Sent To Merritt Compost Plant

Suzuki Foundation Finds Heavy Metals In Delta Biosolids Sent To Merritt Compost Plant
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Opponents of the shipment of biosolids to the Nicola Valley near Merritt, B.C., have gained some ammunition, thanks to a recent lab analysis from a well-known environmental group.

Suzuki Foundation Finds Heavy Metals In Delta Biosolids Sent To Merritt Compost Plant