‘I beat him up:’ Lethbridge manslaughter trial hears videotaped police interview

The manslaughter trial for two southern Alberta men wrapped up its first week of a six-week trial on Friday.

Simon Danny Scout, 21, and Rylan James Wyatt Twigg, 25, were originally charged with second-degree murder in the 2017 death of 45-year-old Kenrick First Rider.

When the trial began this week, the Crown told the court the charges had been reduced from second-degree murder to manslaughter.

First Rider was dating Twigg’s mother at the time of his death.

A video recording of  a police interview with Twigg was played for the court on Friday.

Const. Anthony Tupper took the stand as the video played, he was the officer conducting the interview.

During the recording, Twigg recounted what unfolded in November 2017, when First Rider died.

In the recording, Twigg told the officer he was intoxicated, as were Scout and First Rider. Twigg told the officer the two accused, along with a few others, were drinking when a verbal argument broke out between Twigg, Scout and First Rider.

Twigg said his mom’s boyfriend was upset and as the accused tried to retreat to the basement, First Rider followed them.

Twigg said Scout hit First Rider and then Twigg got involved, hitting First Rider.

“I feel like I was possessed or something, something came over me,” he can be heard saying.

He said he punched First Rider and then when the man fell to the ground, he stomped on him.

He then explained that his sister ran upstairs to get his mom and an ambulance was called. He added that when he left the house, before the ambulance arrived, First Rider was unconscious, but he believed he was still breathing because his chest was moving.

Twigg told the officer it was an accident and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

The videotaped interview is part of a voir dire, which is a trial within a trial, to determine the admissibility of evidence. The judge, Justice Johnna C. Kubik, will rule on whether she will consider the video as evidence in the trial.

The trial is set to continue on Monday, when a reenactment video is expected to be played.