PENTICTON — The lone survivor of a shooting near Princeton two years ago took the stand to testify about the day he and two of his friends were shot. Bradley Martin, 50, was shot in the chest, but he survived his injuries. His two friends Robert Keith Wharton, 43, and Rosemary Fox, 33, did not survive the shooting.
READ MORE: Princeton double murder trial hears how both victims shot 3 times
Martin described himself as “broken” to the jury, saying he life is immensely impacted by that incident in Wharton’s home. He told the jury that night he was watching TV and heard John Ike Koopmans arguing with Wharton and Fox in the master bedroom.
He testified the argument was about a break and enter and Koopsmans believed Wharton was responsible for it. When martin heard the fight escalating, he went into the master bedroom.
“My ears started to ring…I realized half of my body had gone numb…I looked down on my chest and saw blood pouring down,” he testified. “”I see John was sitting with a gun perched on his lap glaring at me.”
Koopmans is charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Martin was the first one shot and the only one to survive, fleeing from the shooter on foot and running onto the road where got help from a driver, Lisa Haigh, who also took the stand the stand to describe Martin on that night.
Martin told the jury that during his wait for ambulance, he experienced difficulties breathing.
“I wasn’t sure how much breath I had left in my body.”
To this day, he said he suffers physical ailments — but also emotional pain. He is expected to take the stand again Thursday.
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