Close X
Monday, November 11, 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

Batman Says He Has Batmobile Trouble, Leaves Traffic Chaos On Ontario Highway

Batman Says He Has Batmobile Trouble, Leaves Traffic Chaos On Ontario Highway
Drivers returning from Ontario's cottage country clogged Highway 401 near Napanee on Sunday evening as they watched Batman, in his Batsuit, working on his Batmobile.

Batman Says He Has Batmobile Trouble, Leaves Traffic Chaos On Ontario Highway

Drug Users In Coquitlam Warned After Lab Tests Find Dangerous Fentanyl

COQUITLAM, B.C. — A powerful pain killer that has killed more than 75 people in British Columbia last year has shown up on the streets of Coquitlam.

Drug Users In Coquitlam Warned After Lab Tests Find Dangerous Fentanyl

'No Locals' Policy Disputed By Prince George Hotel That Turfed Mom, Kids

'No Locals' Policy Disputed By Prince George Hotel That Turfed Mom, Kids
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — A hotel in Prince George, B.C., says its employee was "misinformed" when he told a Prince George mother she was not welcome at the establishment.

'No Locals' Policy Disputed By Prince George Hotel That Turfed Mom, Kids

Squamish Nation Continues Talks, Postpones Vote On Woodfibre LNG Facility

Squamish Nation Continues Talks, Postpones Vote On Woodfibre LNG Facility
SQUAMISH, B.C. — The Squamish First Nation has delayed a vote on a proposed $1.6 billion liquefied natural gas plant in its traditional territory while it negotiates with the project's backers during an unprecedented environmental review. 

Squamish Nation Continues Talks, Postpones Vote On Woodfibre LNG Facility

Man Convicted In Texas For $10Million Timeshare Fraud In US, Canada

Man Convicted In Texas For $10Million Timeshare Fraud In US, Canada
DALLAS — A Florida man could be sentenced to more than 500 years in prison for leading a $10-million timeshare scam in the U.S. and Canada.

Man Convicted In Texas For $10Million Timeshare Fraud In US, Canada

Humboldt Penguin Chick Makes Its Debut At Calgary Zoo, Part Of Breeding Program

Humboldt Penguin Chick Makes Its Debut At Calgary Zoo, Part Of Breeding Program
CALGARY — Officials at the Calgary Zoo are celebrating the debut of a Humboldt penguin chick as part of the facility's breeding program.

Humboldt Penguin Chick Makes Its Debut At Calgary Zoo, Part Of Breeding Program