A 16-year-old youth witness — who cannot be identified because of a publication ban — spent much of his testimony describing to the courtroom what he saw at a house party back in 2014.
The house, located at 1682 Toronto Street in Regina, is a house the Crown believes 54-year-old Shawn Douglas spent some of his final moments alive, before he was brutally killed.
Court heard the youth smoked marijuana for the first time. He testified feeling “giggly” and “very tired”.
He told the court he recalled seeing a white male at the party. He was described as being about 50 years old, had grey hair and wore glasses.
The man sitting on the couch, appeared to be chatting casually with other people in the living room, the youth testified.
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The youth goes on to say he fell asleep at the party and when he woke up, the house was “full of a bunch of people”. Some were wearing bandanas covering their face.
He recalled a knock at the door and “everyone went quiet”. Four people enter the Toronto St. house. One man wearing a grey hoodie carried an “oddly shaped machete” and another carried a baseball bat.
There was nothing that stood out about the men but they appeared to be “upset about something,” the youth said.
He goes on to say as the night progressed, the white male became agitated and nervous. The man also sounded worried, and fidgeted with his hands and pant leg, the youth said.
The youth then described hearing smacking sounds. He testified a couple of the men at the house were beating the white male, punching him in the head and kicking him in the chest.
“I just sat there. I was too scared to do anything,” he said.
The youth also heard “someone was going to get killed” and at this point, he was worried for his safety.
Moments later, an argument breaks out and the youth is told to go upstairs to the bedroom. There is a commotion downstairs in the living room and a woman could be heard crying, he added.
Fearing for his safety, the youth climbed out the bedroom window and onto the roof of the back porch.
“I heard a bit of a struggle going on underneath me,” he said.
He heard the distinct sound of a metal gun being loaded and put onto a table. A man could also be heard crying, the youth said on the stand.
A beige car pulls up into the back alley, and the white male is led to the car. A hospital blanket is covered the man’s head, and three people get into the beige car and drive away.
When asked how the youth knew it was the white man at the party, the youth said he could tell by his figure. The man had a different build, and skin colour, plus he was wearing a blue dress shirt.
The youth tells the court he saw the beige car drive away.
Later in the afternoon, court also heard from three Saskatoon police officers. They described a car chase eventually led to a foot chase in Saskatoon.
The officers described arresting several people at a number of different locations on the evening of Aug. 7 and morning of Aug. 8, 2014.
Officers testified, under the advisement of Regina police, several people were charged with the first-degree murder of Shawn Douglas.
Johnathan Peepeetch, Dennis Thompson and Joshua Wilson are charged with the first-degree murder of Shawn Douglas in Aug. 2014. Douglas’ body was found in a rural field north east of Regina.
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