Friends mourn Regina man killed in alleged hit and run

REGINA – Matthew Scott looks at a picture of him and his best friend Chris Nikolychuk, 29, with tears in his eyes.

The picture shows Nikolychuk on a motorcycle, something both men enjoyed.

“He got this bike when his grandparents passed away,” said Scott, “and that’s all that guy talked about for seven months.”

But now all the motorcycle talk is just a memory. On Sunday morning a man was found dead on the side of Ring Road in an alleged hit and run between Albert Street North and Argyle Street. Police have not released the victim’s name, but friends confirm it was Nikolychuk.

“I just hope he didn’t suffer,” said Scott.

According to Regina Police, a call came in around 5 a.m on Sunday reporting a body.

“I think that the initial observations of the officers were that the deceased may have remained there for some hours before being discovered,” said police spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich.

Police were able to locate the suspect’s vehicle and three people were questioned. Shane Bensette, 25, is charged with failing to report an accident causing death. At his first court appearance on Monday morning, Scott was there to watch.

“I don’t know why they didn’t stop to see if he was okay,” he said. “I’m never actually going to get to know if my buddy could’ve survived if they would’ve stopped their truck.”

Scott, along with the victim’s roommate Chris Allen are trying to piece together what happened that night. Allen said it began with a game of pool in south Regina.

“He had a few drinks at the Broken Rack,” Allen said. “The safe part is to go with a sober driver, which he did.”

Allen is not sure where Nikolychuk went after leaving the Broken Rack and does not know how he ended up walking on Ring Road because that is not his regular route home.

“We had friends looking for him, we couldn’t find him,” he said. “Then we got the cops’ news and that was it.”

Now Nikolychuk’s friends are left hanging onto memories.

“(He was) a very nice guy,” said Allen. “He would bend over backwards for anybody. I loved him to pieces.”

Bensette will make his next court appearance on June 20th. He is also facing charges of assault with a weapon and mischief in an unrelated case. Bensette is expected to stand trial on those charges in September.

Popowich said the investigation is ongoing, but at this point there is no evidence that would support additional charges in connection with the hit and run.