WARNING: This article contains graphic content.
Tyler Vandewater always looked out for Chris Van Camp, but the alleged murderer said that changed when Van Camp returned to prison and started getting paranoid, according to the accused’s testimony.
Vandewater, 31, took the stand in his own defence Friday, describing the night Van Camp, 37, returned to Saskatchewan Penitentiary’s range for Terror Squad gang members over two years ago.
“I considered him my brother. We were like family,” Vandewater said.
He welcomed Van Camp with a handshake and partial hug because the pair had been cellmates before Van Camp was paroled. He said he returned Van Camp’s homemade weapon to him — a sharpened piece of chain link fencing.
Van Camp, his alleged killer, thought other people in the penitentiary wanted to hurt him, and he began pacing back and forth with the improvised weapon in his hand.
“Putting your f—–g blade away,” Vandewater recalled saying.
A verbal confrontation ensued, and Vandewater said the other man swiped at him with the piece of fencing. The accused then admitted to pushing Van Camp into a desk, punching him, throwing him to the ground and reaching for his own metal prison shank.
He started stabbing Van Camp in the face, and as the two wrestled on the ground, Vandewater said he grabbed hold of the fencing. He started stabbing Van Camp in the midsection.
There were 26 lacerations, stab wounds or incised wounds on Van Camp’s head, according to an autopsy report. His neck had six stab wounds, along with four stab wounds to the chest and 25 to the back.
Vandewater said he blacked out and came to as he had Van Camp on the ground by the toilet. He was stomping on him and kicking him in the face, court heard.
The fight only lasted 60 to 90 seconds, Vandewater testified.
He is charged with second-degree murder in Van Camp’s death at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary. Van Camp was declared dead in his cell around 8:15 a.m. on June 7, 2017.
Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said he plans to argue Vandewater’s actions constitute self-defence.
Crown prosecutor Linh Lê is expected to cross-examine Vandewater on Monday.
Earlier this week, correctional officers testified to seeing Vandewater standing in the cell on the morning of June 7. Assuming Van Camp was asleep in the bottom bunk, officers ordered Vandewater to wake him up.
“He got in last night. He’s tired,” Vandewater replied, according to officer Dean Friedt.
During his testimony, Vandewater said he’d cleaned up the cell as best he could because he didn’t want to tell the guards what happened.
“I’d rather be in that cell than be known as a snitch and get stabbed everywhere I go,” he said.
Officers entered the cell and unwrapped several blankets from Van Camp’s body. One of them told court he found garbage bags covered in blood underneath. A shank was between the body and the wall.
Van Camp’s hands showed no bruising that would indicate offensive movements toward someone else, according to Saskatchewan chief forensic pathologist Dr. Shaun Ladham.
There were also no signs of defensive moves to block oncoming attacks, he said.
Van Camp died of excessive blood loss due to blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries, according to Ladham. A wound from a sharp weapon to the right chest cavity is also considered a contributing factor.